In the run up to Christmas, you need to offer a smooth service when consumers purchase from your store. One of the biggest pain points when it comes to shopping online is delivery. In the latest consumer survey from Citizen’s Advice, two thirds of consumers have experienced at least one issue with their online shopping parcel delivery in the last year. That’s quite a lot isn’t it?

As part of our Practical ecommerce series, we’ll be giving you tips for improving your online store. This week, we’re discussing delivery snobbery, pesky delivery charges and how to improve your service with the DPD plugin.

Let’s start with delivery snobbery

When browsing online, people always want to know which delivery carrier you use. Let’s face it, we all know a couple of delivery carriers that we want to avoid like the plague (we won’t name and shame), and consumers are more than happy to vent their frustrations on social media.

Of course, if you’re a small business, going with a cheaper delivery carrier may be the only option. If this is the case, it’s important to make your customers aware of your delivery carrier immediately. Paperchase are a great example of this. On their product page, they display how long you’ve got to be eligible for Next Day Delivery and their carrier.

Don’t hide your delivery charges

It’s rare to find someone who likes surprises, especially when it comes to spending money. With 73% of people having abandoned an online transaction because the delivery cost was too high, it’s definitely worth making your delivery charges clear on your website. Whether you charge a flat fee or free delivery over a certain amount, let people know. John Lewis are a great example of this. When you click on their homepage, one of the first things you see is their delivery options:

A simple banner is a great way to display delivery charges, reducing your cart abandonment rate. It’s also worth looking into offering flexible delivery options, such as Click and Collect or Next Day Delivery.

It’s also worth acknowledging that there’s an issue with a delivery before the customer notices. I’ll give you an example. I placed an order with a US based beauty brand that recently launched in the UK. The website stated that standard delivery was around 3-5 days, but to expect delays due to high demand. For me, this wasn’t an issue, I was excited to order, but not desperate for my item. A few days later, the store emailed me  with an apology for the delay in my delivery and a coupon code for £5 off my next order. A small gesture, but this went a long way and now I’m a regular customer. If you can’t afford to offer discounts, a simple email will let your customers know that you’re keeping on top of the situation.

Looking for a way to improve your delivery options?

Well, the good news is, we’ve got a fantastic DPD Shipping integration with the Sellerdeck Desktop software! In your checkout page, your customers will be given the option to nominate a day for home deliveries or alternatively they can choose for the item to be delivered to any collection point in DPD’s ‘Ship to Shop’ network.

The extension uses the DPD API to check the services or collection points available for delivery location and offers the most convenient choices to the customer. You’ll then see their chosen method in the Sellerdeck Delivery instructions field when you’re processing the order.

The DPD Shipping integration is a great way to offer your customers a reliable and flexible shipping method whenever the purchase from your store.

What can you take away from all this?

We fully appreciate that delivery costs and spend differs for every business, so you may not be able to change your courier or delivery method all that easily. However, by making a few small changes to your website, you can make it easy for your customers to know what you expect when they purchase from your site. So, whether you’re going to implement simple banners with your delivery details, add more information to your product pages or implement our DPD Shipping integration, make sure you make all the information clear!

To find out more about how the DPD Shipping Integration can benefit from your business, then contact us today on 0845 129 4888 or email sales@sellerdeck.co.uk