CThe rise of e-Commerce has seen some pretty drastic changes within the delivery sector. Whilst it’s been great news for consumers with reduced costs and an improved service, there’s been a few casualties along the way for the courier sector.
In 2014, the once popular City Link courier was forced into administration and many other large couriers have also struggled to keep up. Here, we’ll look at how e-Commerce internet delivery services have changed and what options businesses have these days.
Understanding e-Commerce delivery solutions
These days, there’s a lot of options open to consumers in terms of e-Commerce delivery. Long gone are the days when you had to wait a week minimum for your goods to arrive! Now, you can order something and potentially even have it delivered on the same day.
The main delivery options all businesses should consider providing include:
- Free delivery
- Same/Next day delivery
- Tracking
- Returns
- Fixed day
Research has shown that a high percentage of cart abandonment is down to insufficient delivery options. So, if a business isn’t yet offering next day delivery for example, but its competitors are, it’s going to lose a lot of potential business.
These are the main factors consumers look out for, but what about businesses? Well, as a business it also benefits you to look into providing tracking services. This will reduce the likelihood a customer could claim they never received the parcel after it’s been delivered. It also gives you a peace of mind knowing where the parcel is. You may also want to consider looking into bulk shipping options; particularly if you tend to send out frequent large batches of parcels.
How has e-Commerce internet delivery affected big couriers?
As impressive as the changes in eCommerce have been, it has put a lot of pressure onto the larger courier companies. Not only are they expected to deliver parcels quickly, but they’re also expected to do it at a low, affordable rate too. This means they’ve had to absorb additional costs, while also spending more on developing and upgrading their services.
Major e-Commerce stores don’t just use one particular courier. If you look on Amazon’s website for example, you’ll see the company has a long list of couriers it uses. This is because like all savvy e-Commerce businesses, the company realises that different couriers are better for different types of deliveries. For example, some are cheaper when it comes to sending parcels abroad, while others offer a speedier service.
The big couriers which have survived, and also boomed in popularity, are the ones which have adapted their services to fit the e-Commerce trend. TNT is a great example, as the courier even has a dedicated e-Commerce bulk shipping option. This specifically targets internet businesses and shows the company is keeping up with the latest trends. It’s bulk parcel option is great for companies which have to send out a huge number of parcels from their e-business.
Overall, e-Commerce shipping has become extremely popular in recent years and it shows no signs of slowing down. While it has produced some major challenges for courier companies, the good ones have cleverly adapted their services to meet the growing trend. The key thing for businesses to take away, is that having a number of different couriers to handle different types of deliveries, is often far better than opting for one service.
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