How to Keep Customers Happy with eCommerce Alerts!
It brings a great feeling when you can keep a customer happy as their preferred online retailer. Why are your customers satisfied? Because their perfect gift arrived just in time for their loved one. Their order was delivered to the doorstep, on time. Possibly before time.
You can thank the exceptional post-purchase experience for that. Specifically, you can thank expedited delivery options as the main reason to keep your customers happy. But not all deliveries make it in time or go exactly as planned.
A recent study from Invesp revealed that 62% of people will shop online in 2021. Furthermore, only 15% of US consumers meet their delivery speed expectations. The issue is that hundreds and thousands of packages need to be delivered. However, not all will make it to their destinations in due time.
Communicating to your customers is crucial
Transparency is how to keep customers happy and loyal. When packages are delayed, you can control the estimated delivery time as a retailer. So make your customers feel valued. Inform customers by sending personalized, timely alerts on status updates, delivery time, or shipping issues.
Keep customers feeling happy and valued.
How to keep up customers happy?
Retailers must have a robust plan for delivery problems. Any disruptions or exceptions may be due to:
- poor weather
- warehouse clearance issues
- the ‘wrong’ delivery address
- an unfulfilled delivery
- no signature was made at the delivery address.
Suppose eCommerce brands don’t offer real-time delivery updates or alerts. In that case, you will risk losing customers and brand equity no matter which causes the experience. If you update your customers during the post-purchase experience early, you’ll inevitably build more long-term, valued, and loyal customer relationships. This positively affects your bottom line and your brand.
Consider this scenario. It’s your best friend’s birthday this weekend. You made a recent purchase after some serious procrastination. But a big storm has hit across your region. This has left all traffic, including planes and delivery trucks, to an unexpected halt. Your best friend’s birthday gift is now stuck on some highway! Far from the delivery address. As a retailer, you can’t control stormy weather, but you can control how you communicate to customers about the estimated delivery time of all their purchases.
What if there was a way to give your customers a higher level of accuracy of when their package will arrive?
Multiple data points such as carrier information, processing time, and geographical data points, can be used to make this all possible. This feature is called predictive tracking.
Predictive Tracking
Predictive tracking is continuously updated. This in turn reduces buyer’s remorse and retains more customers. You can’t control the storm. However, with predictive tracking, you’ll know when your best friend’s gift will be approximately delivered to your doorstep. This leaves you happily informed, and may keep you coming back to purchase another gift in the future.
When you think of delivering an exceptional post-purchase experience – think of these “Three R’s”:
- Real-time: Consumers like to be notified about their delivery status, pricing changes, and promotions. 40% of online shoppers prefer to receive immediate alerts by SMS.
- Relevancy: Customers who receive personalized, accurate, useful, and timely post-purchase alerts are more likely to engage beyond just buying a product. Your customers are more likely to see your reputable brand as transparent, supportive, and trustworthy.
- Red alerts: Get proactive and differentiate yourself from your competition! Use a ‘red’ alert system that notifies your customers straight away about delays. This creates a positive post-purchase customer experience for your shoppers.
So, how to keep waiting customers happy?
In summary, consumers expect deliveries to arrive timely. This is regardless of weather or warehouse disruptions. So when unforeseen events get in the way of a post-purchase experience, get ahead with customer expectations by keeping the informed. Become shop savvy, keep your customers happy, and learn more about WISMOlabs’ real-time and relevant alerts.
