Steve Orenstein, founder of Zoom2u shares his delivery services tips.
The initial 2020 lockdowns saw many businesses simply closing their doors, not even attempting a door to door offering for fear of large commission fees, stressful logistics, lack of quality control, and potentially damaging relationships with their existing client base.
However, as complications with deliveries and delays through major delivery partners continue to wreak havoc and threaten Christmas sales, businesses of all sizes are waking up to the reality that in order to make their deliveries successful, they may need to take matters into their own hands. Not only must delivery be flawless for their customers, but they need to find unique ways of making it profitable.
While fast and accurate online delivery is most closely associated with hospitality businesses, which can deliver food and drinks while their doors are closed, other sectors can also look to delivery to help strengthen their offering. The truth is, any store with a product to sell can offer delivery: from florists to gyms, gift stores to bottle shops.
Delivery services tips:
Make it profitable
There has been a huge and growing market of people looking to buy everything online. Habits that have been instilled amid lockdowns are here to stay, and businesses are scrambling to keep up with online demands. But, to what cost?
When switching to online delivery for the first time, it’s important to ensure that your pricing makes sense and remains profitable, after delivery costs such as vehicles, fuel, and driver salaries and any unexpected costs.
Back-office smarts are the answer here. For businesses receiving multiple orders, smart software such as Locate2u can help to batch your orders which reduces the cost per delivery. Nespresso, for example, offers time windows to consumers to receive the delivery, which allows drivers to pick up multiple shipments at any one time.
Make it quick and easy
Nothing impresses a consumer more these days than speed and efficiency. By implementing faster deliveries, companies are speeding up the order cycle from their most loyal customers who will then continue to use the service, and recommend it to others.
Online sales in Australia have risen rapidly as a result of the pandemic, with data from the ABS showing an annual rise of 65.5% from March 2020 to January 2021.
In short, people are ordering online more than ever before. For those who are busy at work, coordinating and receiving an increasing number of packages can be a lot to manage.
Offering small delivery windows, fast services and a commitment to transparent communication throughout this process will guarantee a repeat booking, which drives profitability.
Zoom2u’s technology identifies the closest drivers to each recipient, ensuring a competitive delivery speed that can even rival click and collect, and a price that makes it worth it.
Keep up the quality
If your business is known for its high-quality products or sparkling customer service, it’s important to figure out how to translate the same high standards with your online deliveries.
Aside from the obvious – on time and in the right location – there are a number of other ‘must-haves’ that consumers are starting to demand from their deliveries. GPS tracking is a great way to let your customers know when to expect a package, and the ability to offer short delivery windows is another useful and much-appreciated feature. But in order to offer truly world-class deliveries, it pays to think carefully about customer service.
If you own a cafe or bricks and mortar store, many of your customers will be used to engaging with you in some manner, and this is something that you should try to emulate with your delivery drivers. Friendly service, clear communication, and manners will stand out from the crowd – especially since most customers have grown used to careless delivery people who almost throw their packages at their customers.
You can guarantee that your customer is likely to pay a little more for fast, accurate delivery than pay the basic rate and risk chasing their package down for weeks on end, or worse, not receiving it at all.
A recent survey done by Zoom2u found that 86% of people said a bad delivery would negatively impact whether they would make another purchase from that retailer, 71% of people would be more likely to buy online if they knew that their delivery would arrive on the same day, and 84% of online shoppers would like the option of tracking their order in real-time.
It is one thing to offer delivery, but it’s another thing altogether to do it well. With so many businesses looking to extend their online offering, small businesses need to find ways to make their delivery experience stand out from the rest.
Author of top delivery services tips: Steve Orenstein, founder Zoom2u
Zoom2u is an Australia-wide marketplace that connects businesses and individuals with fast, reliable and local delivery drivers, tailored to individual recipient needs. Zoom2u offers one hour, three hours, same day, next day, and interstate deliveries options and customers are able to view their parcel location in real-time, from pick up to drop off.