PAID FOR POST
My boyfriend went a bit mad in the January Sales last week. Enticed by a 30% off promotion online, he bought enough winter woollies to get him through until March.
A week later, he’s yet to hear from the large international retailer that he bought his job lot of jumpers from.
He wasn’t in any rush to receive the order (though it would’ve come in useful for the so-called thundersnow this week) however, he did want to know when it would arrive.
It didn’t have to be next day or even the next week, but setting some kind of parameter was crucial.
Now, with no communication, he’s left wondering if it’s going to turn up at all and is in no doubt this is will be both his first and last time of shopping online with the retailer in question.
Precision over speed
Retail may be awash with super speedy delivery options, but industry executives believe it is precision of delivery rather than speed that is the biggest driver of customer satisfaction.
According to the Bridging the Delivery Gap report released last year by Retail Week and Metapack, 42% of retail executives said precision of delivery time had the biggest impact on brand sentiment.
Fundamental to this is knowing when the parcel is due to be delivered.
However, consumers expect more than this. They expect regular updates on the progress of their parcel and - perhaps driven by the ubiquity of Uber - the ability to track it themselves.
In fact, IMRG’s UK Consumer Home Delivery Review 2016 placed access to an online order tracker as the feature most likely to make delivery more convenient in the eyes of the consumer.
An investment priority
To that end, Argos this week unveiled its latest investment – a tracking tool that provides real-time visibility of its delivery vans.
“Delivering a positive customer experience is an absolute priority for us and customers tell us that being on time or informing them of any change is really important.”
Laurence Garnett, Argos
The technology, which will be deployed on all of Argos’ two-man home delivery vans, will allow the retailer to monitor journeys and estimated delivery times.
This information is fed through to Argos’ contact centres to give customers accurate information on where their deliveries are.
When launching the tool, Argos’ head of home delivery Laurence Garnett said: “Delivering a positive customer experience is an absolute priority for us and customers tell us that being on time or informing them of any change is really important.”
Wise words that my increasingly impatient boyfriend agrees with. If only Argos sold Italian jumpers.
No comments yet