Delivering beyond Black Friday is the tricky part

Stats from Barclaycard show that the number of transactions on this year’s sales event were up 10% on the same time last year. The credit card company reportedly saw an all-time record number of transactions.

So, consumer appetite is still healthy when it comes to Black Friday, which is great for retailers.

What is not so great for retailers – and has plagued them in previous Black Friday events – is delivery.

“Each failed delivery costs UK retailers £14.35 on average – a significant loss to their business”

In a recent Loqate report Fixing Failed Deliveries: Improving Data Quality in Retail we asked an independent research company to speak with more than 300 retailers and more than 2,000 online consumers from the UK, US and Germany, to get their thoughts on delivery issues.

Shockingly, we discovered that each failed delivery costs UK retailers £14.35 on average – a significant loss to their business.

And it did not stop there. We found that after a failed delivery, over half of retailers spend additional money on redeliveries and well over a third also offer a discount as an apology.

An average of 62% of online shoppers have experienced a late or failed delivery in the past year – and the majority of consumers (78%) would expect the retailer to resolve a delivery issue regardless of whether it was the retailer or the courier’s fault.

Even if the courier is responsible for customers not getting their orders, it’s the retailer that suffers in the long term – a financial consequence they may be underestimating.

Who is to blame?

Many retailers blame address inaccuracy, believing that customers often don’t realise that failed deliveries are due to mistyped addresses. But is that really the consumer’s fault?

More than a third of consumers say they find filling in address data frustrating and two thirds even say they would abandon a purchase if they encountered address entry issues.

“While Black Friday is an important day for retailers, it is not the only time they should be focused on creating great user experience and ensuring quality data”

While Black Friday is an important day for retailers, it is not the only time they should be focused on creating great user experience and ensuring quality data – this should be the case all year long. How can retailers combat this issue and deliver first time, every time?

Type-ahead address-verification technology allows shoppers to enter their address details quickly and easily, eliminating the issue of an address being captured incorrectly.

In user-experience research this was the preferred method for more than 62% of testers. Once a retailer has captured an accurate address, parcels and communications can be delivered successfully – minimising frustration, negative brand perception and costly redeliveries.