With the current worry surrounding driver shortages, shipping container costs, and resultant delivery delays, it may be difficult to know what to do, when it comes to managing customer expectations ahead of Black Friday. Many retailers are worried that their customers will feel let down, or may shop elsewhere, if they don’t trust that their purchases will arrive before Christmas. We looked at three different ways to help mitigate, and manage, your customers’ concerns ahead of Black Friday.
Often, when customers are looking to buy something in Black Friday sales, they are aware that this may come with extended delivery times. Whilst there is a particular strain on just how long these times could be this year, customers will be more aware of this than ever. At a recent IMRG event, one retailer said that they were adopting an honest policy with their customers, in order to ensure that they knew what they were getting. This meant that they mitigated any impact that a slower delivery time could cause, as they reported receiving less bad reviews due to delivery complaints through utilizing this strategy.
(Source: Maru, nShift and IMRG Home Delivery Report)
The good news is that 76.8% of people in a survey of 1,000 people, said they were prepared to accept an extended delivery time, if it meant they got a discount. This suggests that honesty could be the best policy.
In order to give customers plenty of options, it’s vital that you offer different price brackets, associated with different levels of premiums. For example, you may be able to offer fast delivery, but only for a select number of customers, who are willing to pay. Then including longer delivery periods may be a way to manage customer expectations, as they can choose how much they want to pay, based on when they want their products by. Working with a range of different carriers enables you to offer multiple convenient delivery options to your customers.
In order to help ease the delivery process, ensure that you personalize delivery for customers. When there’s so many retailers who offer fast delivery and great discounts, you can stand out by finetuning the experience. In order to help manage shoppers’ worries about delivery, options such as directed emails or SMS will reassure them of the status of their order, or even just checking in with them post-purchase helps to let them know that although it could be delayed, their order is on its way.
With the all-important Black Friday week coming up, customers are likely to feel more concerned about their deliveries – although, more of them are happy to accept longer waiting times. To reassure your customers, and maintain loyalty, focus on transparency, a range of delivery options, and personalizing the experience. This way, you can help manage expectations, and succeed across this busy period.