The holiday shopping frenzy, marked by events like Christmas and Black Friday, presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities for retailers and logistics providers. Amidst the surge in order volume and heightened customer expectations, the concept of "delivery repeatability" emerges as a strategic imperative. Delivery Repeatability ties into the concept that performing the same task over and over should naturally lead to efficiencies and better performance. Quoting Bruce Lee, “ I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”
Bringing it back to logistics and fulfillment, if you’ve delivered to a location or customer previously, subsequent deliveries should be more efficient with a higher success rate of completion but this isn’t always the case. This could be due to a number of factors but mainly revolve around driver & customer feedback not being captured accurately or disparate tech and processes.
Let's delve deeper into why delivery repeatability is crucial and explore actionable strategies to achieve it.
The Multifaceted Impact of Delivery Repeatability
- Enhanced Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty: In an era where customer experience reigns supreme, the delivery experience plays a pivotal role in shaping perceptions and fostering loyalty. When customers receive their orders promptly and as expected, their trust in the retailer solidifies. This translates to repeat business, positive word-of-mouth recommendations, and a stronger emotional connection with the brand.
- Elevated Brand Reputation: A retailer's reputation hinges on its ability to fulfill promises and deliver on expectations. Consistent and reliable deliveries contribute significantly to building a positive brand image, fostering trust and credibility in the marketplace. This, in turn, attracts new customers and strengthens relationships with existing ones.
- Operational Efficiency and Cost Reduction: Delivery repeatability streamlines operations and reduces unnecessary costs. By minimizing failed deliveries, lost packages, and customer service inquiries related to delivery issues, retailers can optimize their logistics processes, reduce waste, and enhance overall efficiency.
- Competitive Differentiation: In a saturated market, delivery repeatability can serve as a powerful differentiator. Retailers & 3PLs (3rd Party Logistics) who consistently deliver on their promises stand out from the competition, gaining a significant advantage in attracting and retaining customers.
- Mitigating the Risks of Peak Seasons: The holiday season amplifies the challenges associated with delivery. The surge in order volume, coupled with the pressure of time-sensitive deliveries, can strain logistics networks and lead to delays and errors. Delivery repeatability acts as a buffer, enabling logistics providers to navigate these challenges more effectively and maintain high service levels.
Strategies for Achieving Delivery Repeatability
- Investment in Technology and Data Analytics: Leveraging advanced technology solutions, such as real-time tracking systems, predictive analytics, and route optimisation software, empowers retailers & logistics providers to gain greater visibility into their delivery operations, anticipate potential issues, and make data-driven decisions to improve efficiency. For every delivery completed, there are at a minimum 10 data points that can be collected. For eg: location of the delivery address, location of delivery drop-off point within the address, parking location, building entrance, dwell time and route taken to name a few. During the November 2023 peak period, Australia Post delivered a record 53 million parcels - that equates to at least 530 million data points that could be used to enhance delivery repeatability.
- Proactive Communication and Transparency: Keeping customers informed throughout the delivery process fosters trust and reduces anxiety. Providing real-time updates on order status, estimated delivery times, live tracking and potential delays empowers customers and enhances their overall experience. Providing this level of transparency also has the benefit of reducing the burden on customer support teams handling WisMO (Where is My Order) queries. Customers check their shipment tracking on average 4.6 times per online purchase and 69% claim that delivery tracking is in their top 3 considerations when making an online purchase. WisMO queries on average account for 20% of all customer conversations but can rise to 35% during the peak periods. That’s nearly 2 out of 5 interactions with a customer that a retailer could use to add value and drive more sales rather than dealing with a logistics query. Should customers still contact the support team for WisMO queries, there is the potential for support teams to have a more value based and sales driven interaction if the delivery tracking information was more readily available.
- Streamlined Processes and Technology: Too often we see organisations “bolt-on” modules onto legacy systems or make minor tweaks and changes to existing processes. The underlying issues of disparate systems not utilising and feeding back to the same data source, processes being initially designed in isolation with little to no regard for downstream impacts and siloed technology are quite often swept under the rug or put into the “too hard basket”. Although radical, in some instances the 10X rule needs to be considered which could include a revamp of technology and processes to keep up with the boom in e-commerce. In 2010, global e-commerce sales accounted for US$572 billion; In 2025, this number is expected to exceed US $7 trillion. That is a 12x increase in just 15 years. Legacy tech and processes need to be upgraded to cope with this. This can be done in a phased approach to ensure ROI is realised throughout this upgrade process.
- Enhanced Last-Mile Delivery Optimization: The last mile of delivery is often the most critical and complex. Optimising this stage through strategies such as dynamic route optimisation, capacity-based delivery time slot selection, and leveraging tacit local courier knowledge can significantly improve delivery success rates.
- Fostering relationships between Retailers and Logistics Providers: Retailers and Logistics Providers need to work together to ensure that there is a constant flow of information both ways to ensure that a customer centric approach is maintained throughout the post-purchase journey. Customer profile information such as delivery preferences and loyalty status need to be passed along to the delivery provider to ensure the customer receives a consistent delivery experience whilst delivery status and tracking information needs be passed back to the retailer so that any delivery information is available in a centralised location should the customer have any queries about their delivery.
- Clear and Comprehensive Delivery Instructions: Providing delivery providers with clear and concise delivery instructions, including accurate addresses, contact information, and any special requirements all in a consistent format, helps to prevent failed deliveries and ensure a smooth experience for the customer. This information should be provided not just at time of order creation but should be continuously updated through the delivery process all the way until delivery completion. This allows the retailer to cater for redirection requests or any dynamic changes in delivery instructions (eg: change in opening hours, delivery drop-off locations etc)
The Road Ahead: Delivery Repeatability as a Continuous Pursuit
Achieving delivery repeatability is not a one-time effort but an ongoing commitment to excellence. Retailers and logistics providers must continuously monitor their performance, identify areas for improvement, and adapt their strategies to meet evolving customer expectations and market dynamics. Taking a leaf out of the agile development methodology and the MVP approach, hypotheses should be constantly assessed and roadmaps tweaked to ensure the success criteria is always being met. By prioritising delivery repeatability, businesses can navigate the complexities of peak seasons with greater confidence, foster customer loyalty, and achieve sustainable growth in the long term.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely my own and do not necessarily represent those of my employer, organisation, or any other group or individual.
