The last year wasn’t just like any other year. It was full of panic, hustle, and uncertainty. The pandemic afflicted people across the globe. Now that vaccination drives have started in several countries, and people have got more cautious than ever, things are slowly back on track. Amid several industries that witnessed plummeting profitability, one industry has succeeded beyond expectations.
That’s the e-commerce industry!
This industry has seen a dramatic rise in terms of revenue and demand since Covid-19.
One of the important aspects that you can’t afford to ignore in e-commerce is the delivery part. If you have a strong delivery strategy in place for your e-store, you are sure to stay ahead of the curve. To handle the surge in online shopping, e-retailers have tweaked their delivery handling in different ways. These tweaks aim to make the delivery process easier and faster.
If you are also an e-store owner looking to strengthen your delivery strategy, here are the top delivery trends to keep an eye on.
1. Same Day + Next Day Delivery
Although not completely new, same-day + next-day delivery has become an even more pressing trend now. More people have turned to online shopping and expect delivery on the same day or within 2 days of order placement.
With e-commerce giants like Amazon, eBay, Walmart, etc., taking the lead, different small e-store owners are looking for the possibility of urban warehousing. The closer the fulfillment center is to the customer, the lower the delivery time will be. By building small warehouses within city limits, business owners can easily deliver products to people in the cities and on the outskirts. It also can help them save on investment in shipment charges as the distance between your fulfillment center and customers decreases.
2. Real-Time Package Tracking
Though the live tracking of products has always been important for e-stores, its demand has surged even more after Covid-19. Customers look forward to getting real-time updates about the products that they’ve ordered. The more accurate the real-time package-tracking is, the better the customer’s shopping experience will be. In the years to come ahead, providing last-mile tracking will no longer be an option but necessary.
3. Zero-Contact Delivery
With the fear of contacting COVID-19, people have started looking at the formalities to complete while receiving a package differently. Most of them try to avoid any contact with the delivery-person or any paper or device they hand out to sign on.
Instead, they prefer a fully contactless delivery. Big e-retail giants have already adopted this trend, and small e-retailers are following suit. Zero-contact delivery is going to be a popular trend for several years to come.
4. 3rd Party Logistics
Third-party logistics (3PLs) is becoming increasingly popular after Covid-19. Uber drivers, Amazon delivery services, etc., are now in high demand as they are easy to afford to manage inventories and carry packages. Outsourcing deliveries to a third-party logistics company can help a business reduce delivery expenses and focus more on core operations.
The demand for third-party shipping services is going to skyrocket further in the upcoming years. UPS, DHL, Australia Post, FedEx, etc., are some popular names in the list of third-party logistics companies.
5. More Control over Deliveries to Customers
Giving the reins in the hands of your customers is becoming increasingly necessary. Earlier, customers were not so particular about the delivery dates. However, over the past two or three years – and especially since the pandemic’s onset, customers’ preferences have changed. They want more control over their delivery in their hands.
That is why the freedom to pick a suitable delivery date and delivery time is in high demand. To enhance their shopping experience, customers also want to put in delivery comments if they have particular preferences.
So, if you also want to keep your customers engaged, you should offer the freedom to select a delivery date and time.
If you are looking to allow customers to choose delivery dates and timings, our Magento 2 Delivery Date extension can be the right fit for you. It is a ready-to-integrate and cutting-edge delivery date scheduler extension.
It lets you provide the freedom to choose a suitable delivery date and Magento 2 delivery time to customers. Customers can also write delivery comments and view a complete break-up of delivery charges that ensure transparency. You can display non-working days and holidays and even time-slots to customers to avoid any delivery complaints.
We have upgraded Magento 2 Delivery Date extension with more next-gen features in our ongoing efforts to enhance our clients’ experience.
Here are the latest features for you.
Delivery Date Selection based on Shipping Methods
As an admin, you can enable or disable delivery date selection for your customers based on the shipping methods they pick. You can also disable delivery date selection on the products with zero shipping fee.
Set Global or Product-Wise Order Processing Time
With Magento 2 Delivery Date extension, you can configure a store-level order processing time applicable on all the products from your store backend. You can configure the order processing time for individual products depending on your delivery arrangements if you want. Accordingly, you can display the available delivery dates to select for your customers.
Additional Delivery Charges
With Magento 2 Delivery Date you can easily configure the additional delivery charges for certain situations. For example, you can set charges higher than average for same-day delivery or delivery on certain days like Christmas, New Year, etc.
Over to You
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced e-store owners to innovate their delivery strategy. If you haven’t revamped it yet, now is the time! Upgrade your e-store with the latest delivery trends and win the customers’ trust and loyalty.
Want us to help you with that? Integrate our Magento 2 Delivery Date Scheduler extension and make your store future-ready.
To integrate it or know more about it, you can get in touch with us at sales@appjetty.com.
Original Blog: https://www.appjetty.com/blog/delivery-trends-zero-2021-and-ahead/