Exceptional customer experience through fulfilment
On the 3rd April the retail sector’s logistics, delivery and supply chain professionals flocked to Birmingham NEC for the Internet Retailing and eDelivery EXPO. The event put the spotlight on the challenges in retail and how the latest l technologies can be used more effectively to drive sales.
Amongst the pool of expertise at the event, Dirk Haschke, VP Ecommerce Operations at Descartes Systems Group presented a workshop on how to achieve exceptional customer experience through fulfilment – the path to sustainable growth.
Managing growth while creating a differential customer experience is crucial in today’s eCommerce environment. The workshop hosted by Dirk presented what leading online merchants and logistics service providers (LSPs) are doing in response to industry trends and challenges, including delivery speed vs accuracy; managing peak seasons and eCommerce spikes; and cross-border commerce. In addition, Dirk emphasised the importance of determining the right eCommerce strategy for your business to keep pace with rapid market changes whilst delivering a positive customer experience and sustainable growth.
According to Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index, in 2016 64 billion parcels were shipped globally. In 2017 this number increased by 17% in 2017 and by 2020 it is predicted that the global shipping volume will reach 100 billion. In order to remain sustainable and drive customer spend with this level of growth, retailers must understand:
- The customer experience impact
- Trends and challenges
- Strategies for sustainable growth
- Strategies for delivering a positive customer experience
This is where the relationship between a retailer and road transport operators / LSPs can make a significant difference; especially when these organisations are effectively the last touchpoint between a retailer; its product; and the consumer.
Utilising technology throughout the order fulfilment process is key to ensure the intralogistics processes and visibility are in place to continually and profitably meet customer expectations - from the transparency of checkout to speed and efficiency of delivery and an effective returns process that doesn’t adversely impact the bottom line.
Supporting the retailer promise through a clear understanding of delivery KPIs and providing real-time insight back to enable strong customer communication are key to success. By providing the customer with complete visibility of the order fulfilment process from picking, shipping times, location of their delivery van, alerts for delays to delivery, confirmation of delivery, and transparency in returns, road transport operators and LSPs can support their retailer partners in not only maintaining customer satisfaction but also increasing mutually efficient business operations and revenue growth.
A workshop attendee emailed Descartes after the event to say "This was one of the best workshops at the whole event. It was incredibly informative and presented very well." Email atavener@descartes.com for a copy of the presentation.
Find out what Descartes can do for you at https://ecommerce.descartes.com/