Anyone who believes that the customer journey ends as soon as an order has been placed is mistaken. After all, it is the following communication with the customer – in addition to other factors relating to delivery, tracking and returns management – that holds enormous potential for improving customer loyalty and differentiating the company from the competition. Online printers should draw attention to this.
For its white paper “E-Commerce-Lieferkompass 2021/2022”, the shipping platform sendcloud took a closer look at consumer expectations and what online retailers currently offer. This not only revealed different acceptance levels in various European countries – the report also provides reasons why communication is so important for customer loyalty, especially after the order has been placed.
Yes, it is important to set up a store environment that not only offers a relevant and diverse product portfolio, but is also visually appealing and offers high usability. But the logistics after and around the actual ordering process should also be carefully thought about. For example, when it comes to the question of shipping costs, the offer of different shipping service providers or delivery times.
How to prevent shopping cart dropouts
According to the “E-Commerce-Lieferkompass 2021/2022”, for example, two-thirds of online shoppers tend to cancel their order while already in the shopping cart if they feel that the shipping costs are too high. 40 percent also said they were not willing to pay shipping costs if the order value was less than 150 Euros.
Free shipping is “in”, especially from the shopper’s point of view – but the reality is that more and more online retailers are saying goodbye to this service and instead increasingly introduce a threshold value for shipping costs, thus linking them directly to the order value. This has not to do with the issue of sustainability, although according to the study, only a few have so far been willing to pay more for sustainable delivery.
More freedom of choice = higher customer satisfaction
However, higher customer satisfaction also goes hand in hand with the choice of different shipping providers. According to the white paper, store operators who offer a broader range of options avoid having shoppers abort their purchase process due to negative previous experiences with certain delivery services. And once the package is on its way, about 70% of the online shoppers surveyed expect regular updates on the progress of the delivery, especially by e-mail. And that in turn leads to a factor of leverage that is still underestimated, according to the E-Commerce Delivery Compass.
Communication as an important success factor
Because, according to one of the results of the survey: The opening rate of e-mails with shipping and delivery information is significantly higher than the opening rate of classic newsletters – and clearly shows how important good and transparent communication is in online shopping. The conversational e-mails sent to shoppers during the purchasing process, as well as e-mails with tracking information, should therefore be seen by online store operators less as a necessary evil and more as an important tool in customer care and in the promotion of other services and suitable products.
In addition, good communication does not stop at e-mails, but also includes the transparent presentation of information about the ordering and delivery process on the website and communication in case of a complaint. Angus Knights, UK Partnership Manager of parcelLab GmbH, has already explained at OPS 2020 why the checkout process in particular can be an important factor for the success of an online store.
