Ready or not, same-day shipping and same-day delivery are here to stay!
Online shoppers have increasingly come to demand both in recent years as the convenience of online shoppers prompts them to demand their products as soon as possible. In fact, 56 percent of Millennials flat out expect retailers to offer same-day shipping!
Your customers have spoken… but is your business ready? Here’s a closer look at why both same-day shipping and same-day delivery are important and how to prepare your business for this new reality!
Why are Same-Day Shipping and Same-Day Delivery Important?
There are many reasons why online retailers should seriously consider embracing fast shipping and fast delivery - and we have the stats to prove it!
First and foremost, tech-savvy generations like Millennials and Generation Z have embraced same-day delivery, and, as they come of age, their purchasing power and clout in eCommerce will only increase.
According to Coldwell Banker Commercial Affiliates, 64 percent of Millennials are also more likely to buy from retailers who offer to have their orders delivered the same day of their purchase. Parents, another notable consumer group regardless of age, have also come to embrace fast shipping and delivery, with 63 percent of them saying that same-day delivery is significantly more likely to compel them to make a purchase.
Even more, a full 49 percent of online shoppers say that same-day delivery makes them even more likely to shop online! Perhaps most importantly, a full 25 percent of online buyers would simply abandon their cart if same-day shipping wasn’t available.
In short, consumers have come to fully-embrace - if not outright demand - fast shipping and fast delivery in this day and age. So, is your business ready for the age of same-day shipping and same-day delivery as the norm in eCommerce?
How to Prepare for Same Day Shipping and Same Day Delivery
Preparing your business to not only fulfill but also deliver product orders within a 24-hour timeframe may seem intimidating and overwhelming. However, following a few simple tips can make this process much easier. Here’s how to to it!
1. Test Your Website
In order not to leave your customers stranded, you should test your website to make sure that everything’s working efficiently and seamlessly. To make order placements easier and quicker, ensure that your site loads quickly, the items in the product listings are correctly named, checkout goes through without any glitches and the product pages are compelling and detailed.
2. Have an Adequate Number of Staff
Always have an adequate number of employees on-hand to handle the complexity of same-day fulfillment, shipping and delivery. This is especially important during the rush of the holiday shipping season!
3. Take Cues from the Previous Year’s Sales
Take a look at the trends from the prior year, especially during the holiday season. What were peoples’ buying habits? Did most of them wait until December to make their purchases? What were the most ordered categories? What were the top delivery options? Take a hard look at all this data and more to prepare for the future!
4. Have Enough Inventory On-Hand
Anticipating customer demand is always key. In order to make the most of fast shipping and delivery as an eCommerce retailer, make sure that you have enough of the latest in-demand products and try to forecast the upcoming months as accurately as possible. The better you understand the market and your audience, the easier offering fast shipping and delivery is!
5. Embrace Technology
Embrace technology to make your life easier. For example, TradeGecko can be a useful tool for inventory management while another tool, ChannelAdvisor, can be helpful with regards to data automation and analysis!
6. Find a Reliable Courier
Compare couriers to find which one works best for your fast shipping and delivery needs. Fortunately, Easyship makes this easy by offering dozens of shipping solutions from major global couriers like UPS, USPS, FedEx, DHL and more!
7. Keep Your Internal Process Simple
There’s no need to make things complicated for yourself and your staff. Conduct an audit of your staff’s major tasks and everyday assignments to see how the process can be streamlined and more efficient. This your, your order fulfillment and shipping process can go much faster and smoother!
8. Keep Items Orderly
Nothing slows down the process of same-day shipping and delivery like a messy warehouse! Manage your inventory effectively by adopting inventory management methods such as slotting, improving your inventory turnover and truly embracing efficiency. By effectively maintaining a clean, efficient and orderly warehouse, you’ll find that your fulfillment, shipping and delivery operations will be much more seamless overall!
9. Communicate Quickly and Effectively
Whether you’re dropshipping or have your own warehouse, it’s important that you maintain good communication with your couriers, staff and fulfillment partners. For dropshipping, make sure the vendor can be reached in a matter of seconds and be able to have order processing initiated as soon as possible.
10. Make Connections
As the saying goes - it’s not about what you know, it’s who you know! Always reach out and bring aboard reliable couriers, fulfilment partners and others to make your life a lot easier. Having the right partners you can count on can make your fast shipping and fast delivery goals much easier to obtain.
Same-Day Shipping and Same-Day Delivery: Prepare Your Business Today!
There’s no denying the fact that fast shipping and fast delivery are trends that are quickly taking over the eCommerce world. Offering same-day shipping and same-day delivery can help give your business a competitive edge and boost both sales and customer satisfaction. However, you should always take proactive steps to make same-day packaging, shipping and delivery as efficient and convenient as possible, for both you and your customers to ensure your company is fully-prepared.
Ready to get started with fast shipping and fast delivery for a global audience? Sign up for Easyship today to access to 250+ shipping solutions and take advantage of our tax and duty automation, fulfillment assistance and, best of all, rate discounts of up to 70 percent!
