Episode 12: How retailers can prioritise the delivery touchpoints shoppers expect

Amie Larter sits down with Taeressa Fawthrop, Chief Consumer Officer at Team Global Express to unpack what customers really want when it comes to their delivery experience. 

Transcript

Intro:

Coming up, on this episode of Retail Untangled.

Data security is one of the single biggest concerns for shoppers. The reality is, if you don’t get that right for your customers, and deliver to their needs, you’re going to miss the opportunity to not only retain, but find future customer loyalty.

Amie:

Welcome to Retail Untangled, my name is Amie Larter and this is the podcast where we speak to retail industry experts and find out business hacks that help them succeed. You won’t find these gems anywhere else, and we have some superb stories from the coalface as well as helicopter insights from retail industry leaders. The retail landscape is constantly evolving, and keeping pace with customer expectations can feel like a never ending chase. Inside Retail, together with Team Global Express recently surveyed 750 shoppers on their delivery expectations and pain points to unpack what customers really want when it comes to their delivery experience.

Today I will be joined by Taeressa Fawthrop, Chief Consumer Officer at Team Global Express to unpack how retailers and prioritise the touchpoints that matter most, tailor strategies for different demographics and importantly, maximise customer satisfaction to increase retention and sales. 

Taeressa, with so many customer touch points within the delivery experience impacting brand perception and loyalty, what are today's top priorities for online shoppers? 

Taeressa: 

Through our research, we have uncovered that shoppers judge a brand by the delivery experience with a staggering 91% of customers who received damaged items avoiding or abandoning that retailer entirely. So customers who received damaged items are also 50% more likely to spread negative word of mouth. 

So in terms of top delivery priorities, proof of delivery and safe placement is a must. Data security is one of the single biggest concerns for shoppers. Keeping personal information and addresses safe with secure backend systems is a non-negotiable, to build trust, transparency, and control throughout the delivery journey. 

Clarity and visibility is also up there, understanding where a parcel is at every stage through SMS or email notifications offers peace of mind, allowing shoppers to track their parcel along its journey and enabling them to have the ability to plan ahead. Having control and choice over delivery preferences such as speed, authority to leave, or out of home collection ensures that experience is convenient with the power back in their hands. 

And lastly, where there's an issue, there's a strong preference for local, real time accessible customer 

Amie: 

I loved your report. I think it was fantastic. And I love the way that you unpacked the delivery journey in the five stages. And I think one of the things that was a common thread through those stages was transparency is increasingly important. Can you elaborate on the specific pain points shoppers experience due to a lack of transparency and how retailers can address these concerns? 

Taeressa: 

Transparency is key. Shoppers want and expect to know the status of their purchase at every step from order fulfilment. Picking and packing to the moment it gets into their hands. Transparency builds trust, and could be the difference between making a purchase or exiting that browser. 

So shoppers want to experience it right from the start and it can solve a number of pain points from data security, options around delivery speeds and windows, and on time delivery. Having clear and timely notifications via email and SMS goes a very long way. Incorporating functions like track, trace and estimated delivery day provides a level of visibility so that shoppers can track their parcel at every step and plan ahead to be home or to pick the parcel up from, you know, a convenient collection point. 

The level and type of information that is shared is what matters here and highlights the critical need to partner with delivery solutions providers that offer robust tracking solutions. 

Amie: 

The report emphasises offering various delivery options, that in hand with a sort of a simple process. 

So when it comes to organising the delivery, what did the report and research show in terms of shopper's, top preferences right now? 

Taeressa: 

Convenience and choice is absolutely critical here. The aim is to get them what they want when they need it. Providing speed and an express option has come out as a top priority. In fact, two and five will avoid using retailers that don't offer an express delivery option. But delivery windows still have a place to play here. 

This is where choice comes in. Retailers should ensure that their clear estimated delivery times are displayed for both express and window delivery, so shoppers can make informed choices. Shoppers also want the ability to easily specify a safe place to leave their parcels when they're not at home, including accessible after hours out of home collection points. 

Amie: 

What happens when retailers don't get it right, in terms of that simplicity or in terms of not offering the right choices? 

Taeressa: 

It's really, all about, getting it right for your customers. The reality is if you don't get that right for your customers and deliver to their needs, you're going to miss the opportunity to, not only retain, but find future customer loyalty. 

This is where the research and the insights, like this report, come to play as retailers can turn the insights into action to make it more of a competitive edge for them. We've uncovered the different demographics and generations demand and favour different things. 

So looking into retailers, target demographic can tailor experiences and achieve a perfect balance. It's about being transparent and open and around your delivery options so that your customers can make informed choices that is existing and new customers, and ensuring that you're partnering with the right, partner, and the most reliable delivery providers who can offer you those options at your price points. 

Amie: 

How would you say retailers achieve, that ideal balance between offering options that convenience, which you've said is sort of top of mind and cost effectiveness in delivery. 

Taeressa: 

It's really, really important that the retailer understands their customer base. Make sure that you've got accessible and clear and timely communications channels in place. It's about ensuring that you can offer the desired delivery solutions, to their desired customer bases, as effectively and efficiently as possible. 

Obviously there are a range of solutions, both physical and digital solutions that are going to be incredibly important to enable some of the experiences that you're wanting to deliver for your customer bases. 

Amie: 

On time delivery remains a significant pain point with only 55% of shoppers reporting consistent success. This is particularly concerning for, I think Gen Y, and Gen X and frequent buyers. And these are the groups that are key demographics for growth. How can retailers minimise this frustration and keep customers informed? 

And additionally. I'd love to hear your advice for handling delivery issues. 

Taeressa: 

I can't say this enough, actually communicate early and often, especially where you in the event of anticipated delivery impacts, know, communicating with customers proactively, keeping them informed and updating them of progress is critical. Don't keep them in the dark, transparency and visibility is critical to a delivery experience. We certainly believe that communicating and certainly through the research we've seen, anticipated windows of 24 hours prior to delivery, and offering alternatives if that's not possible, puts the customer back in control. 

Control and choice is really important to the consumer. And, as we know that choice and convenience is critical, especially for Gen X and Gen Y. Track and trace technologies are incredibly important. shoppers can follow their parcel journey at every step without the need to actually contact. Either the retailer or the delivery solution provider. So partnering with the right providers is going to be really important to offer robust tracking solutions that will go a long way in managing your customer's expectations. Where there is an issue, we've also found in the research that shoppers do want local real time support, whether it's online, whether it's over the phone, putting them back in the seat is really important. 

And having an Australian based customer service team on hand to respond to, and resolving delivery issues can make all the difference in not only winning, but retaining your customers. 

Amie:

So, in the research, what are some of the other interesting differences, between the different demographics? 

Taeressa: 

There is no one size fits all approach when it comes to delivery, and we do need to think about each of those demographics a little differently and tailor our approaches to meet the needs of the groups of customers that we are targeting. 

So while Gen Z and Gen Y demand convenience, transparency, and sustainability, we know baby boomers care about reputation and previous experiences based on positive delivery reviews. So feedback and awards all, you know, kind of come play into, how the Baby Boomers are likely to purchase. 

But for Gen X, free delivery is almost a must. When it comes to returns and re-commerce, making it simple. No matter who it's for. While Gen Z is a self-serve generation, Baby Boomers want a little more support in the returns processes. So one thing we can agree on is the need for multi-channel customer support so that it caters for the specific needs of each demographic. 

Amie: 

Building on the reports findings, I'm keen for you to unpack, Taeressa what are your top three actionable recommendations for retailers to improve their overall delivery experience? 

Taeressa: 

Number one for me is partnering with a reliable delivery solutions provider you can trust. And that's not somebody who just leads with experience, but has your business and its aspirations at the heart of what they do. It is a sure way to ensure that your brand will be delivering to exceptional customer experience propositions. 

The second thing for me is to optimise every delivery touch point for maximum impact. There is opportunity at every step of your supply chain journey to ensure that you can win and retain customers and enhance your brand loyalty. Lead with the customer. The most important, really, is leading with customer in everything you do. 

You need to be customer-centric, continually improving and evolving your solutions. To deliver to their needs will help you achieve your growth aspirations. 

Amie: 

The point there is the evolving. It's probably, it's very much a journey, not a destination. The same with, customer expectation, customer demand, the way they want to interact with brands. of the retailers that you see are doing really well? Is it because they're constantly evolving? What is that kind of metric to success for them? 

Taeressa: 

The ones that are really doing well are really looking at the supply chain as an opportunity to bring the customer to the centre of everything they're doing. Thinking about delivery as a part of that proposition is really important from the start that the customer is actually looking and starting to browse on their website. So the reality is, it is an interrelated supply chain, so, you know, it is a time where experience innovation is leading the way. 

Amie: 

Looking to the future, what are some of the cool, more innovative ideas or technologies that you believe will disrupt or reinvent delivery as we know it? 

Taeressa: 

Well, leading on from your last question, it's absolutely about experience innovation, and challenging the status quo on how you're operating today. Some of the most exciting developments that we are seeing certainly play out in Australia are the live vehicle tracking. So shoppers see where their parcels are, but you know, it's a similar Uber kind of experience in real time. 

But offering dynamic delivery dates with two hour or delivery times with two hour delivery windows is critical, but real time access to drivers, so you can pinpoint exactly where the driver is, but also pinpoint and make changes to where you'd like to leave your delivery. So having that proof of delivery is going to be incredibly important for consumers in the future. But I will say, you know, when I talk about experience innovation, it's about how we enable self-service, self-management capabilities for track and trace. You know, it's digital support with AI. I also think returns are so critical, but re-commerce is a space that, watch out innovative commercial opportunities for re-commerce. 

It is a critical space that businesses should be thinking a little differently around returns and reverse logistics. Including re-commerce, but it's about leading with innovative experiences. And that means, seamless digital integration, but with greater personalisation. So, you know, in the future, certainly going to see more and more, personalisation and offering exactly what shoppers need and want, even if they don't quite know it yet. 

Amie: 

And do you think that's what's setting some of the retail brands that are leading in the delivery space, is that what sets them apart? They're sort of meeting customers where they are at, how they want their delivery. It sort of becomes far more of a control from their end. 

Taeressa: 

Absolutely. It is also stepping back from their supply chain, Amie . So stepping back from how they've been operating in the past and considering, and challenging doing things a little differently, but enabling the innovation of technology to help them do that. Because, you know, as we've talked through some of the generations and the types of demographics, there is a mix of technologies and physical channels that will really need to come to life to be able to fully optimise their aspirations for growth through the different, customer audiences that they may be targeting. 

Amie: 

And in terms of taking that step back in the supply chain and having a look at doing things differently, is it always a mammoth effort? Is it always something where there are no quick wins and it's gonna take a huge amount of time? 

What does that look like to really encourage people to take that step back? 

Taeressa: 

Certainly through the lens of Team Global Express, I think we're leading the way on this space. We are sitting back as partners and mapping the supply chain through the lens of the consumer experience. And that is not a difficult thing to do. With the right people at the table, you can uncover opportunities that can help the business optimise and maximise innovative ideas that can help them achieve that growth or, you know, opportunities to target into different markets that they may not be exploring today. So, it's not difficult, Amie . It sounds difficult and it sounds confronting, consider your partner. Consider who you have at the table and do they have your business? 

And your desires and aspirations are at the heart of what they're doing because the right partner will do so. And you know, mapping those experiences helps you understand how you can bring experience to life, but also how you can innovate in ways that you may not have challenged yourself in the past as a business. 

So, I just think it's a really exciting time for retail. and it's an exciting time, disrupt potentially, the ways that we have been working in the 

past. Partnering, thinking about your customer base, thinking about the geographies you should be targeting today, the right partner will be able to help you access a customer base that you potentially may not have considered. 

That's where a delivery solutions partner can come in and help you grow your business in ways that you potentially may not have considered, whether it be regional or rural Australia. We know that it's incredibly underpenetrated. So at 5% penetration, it's a massive opportunity for Australian retail to actually go out there and try and, you know, win some business in remote and regional Australia. 

So, I would think differently about, you know, potentially where they can play. That's probably the last. Point that, um, I haven't touched on. We know that consumer penetration is quite low in Australia, even lower in regional and rural Australia. 

Amie:

Why is that Taeressa? 

Taeressa:

It's access, the right delivery partner will be able to open up the opportunity for you to sell your brand into environments, just because you live in regional Australia doesn't mean you don't have money and it doesn't mean you don't have taste. There's a lot of, consumers out there dying for brands the reach and the scale and potentially speed, you've gotta have the right delivery partner at the table. 

Amie: 

And it has come up in conversation. I mean, we've seen that in terms of businesses right now looking for different ways to drive revenue growth. This is, regional has been a topic of discussion, so it's so good to hear you say that. 

Taeressa: 

The other one I mentioned before is re-commerce, considering sustainability and the approaches that you can take as a business to include sustainability partners like re-commerce partners. Sometimes it can be quite daunting to consider transporting goods to outer regional Australia. 

But having the right partners to make that a much more commercially effective outcome if things go wrong. So, partnering is incredibly important considering partners for different stages of your ecommerce journey.

Amie:

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Outro:

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