Missed deliveries and lack of feedback are things many retailers and logistics service providers deal with on a daily basis. Often the solution is to ignore them and pay higher costs, both in financial and brand terms. We spoke to Gary Rosier-Taylor, Sales Director at Descartes Systems Group about how consumers get involved with the delivery process, share feedback and become active participants that rewards retailers and logistics. You can watch the full video interview now.
Gary, where do logistics & retailers fail when it comes to consumer engagement and how can they do better?
What we see from a consumer standpoint is all related to information sharing. All businesses have enough information but the biggest weakness we have seen is how to share it with the consumer seamlessly. That is the single biggest thing that creates a positive end-customer experience on the day of service.
We see most businesses holding up to that information and it is the thing that can help with engagement, customer experience and ultimately the operational side of the business.
Why do companies hold on to this information and do not share it with consumers?
I do not think organisations think about it. For many businesses the thought is that they have the information and know what is going on. However, they do not translate that into whether the consumer knows what is going on. It comes to utilising the available information and sharing it proactively.
On the other side, companies would say that they would not like to send constant notifications and spam to their customers. What is your opinion on that?
If I have paid for a product or service, I would like to know when and where it is arriving. I also would like to know any updates should something change. When we talk about spam it is about promoting a new product or a service that the customer may or may not want.
From a consumer’s standpoint it has to be timely and relevant. There is no need to share every single status change. Consumers should be told the approximate time, where in the queue they are, any changes and when there is a more accurate estimate about the arrival time.
Recently Descartes Systems Group acquired the assets of Localz, a provider of the services we discussed with Gary in this interview. You can see a platform demo of the service below. The Localz platform combines real-time vehicle location tracking and communications to deliver safe, transparent, customer-centric SaaS solutions that transform the customer delivery experience. End customers can schedule services and deliveries through an online portal, and then follow the progress of their order in real-time with advanced notifications built in. Localz also helps retailers provide a premium, highly efficient “click-and-collect” solution that improves the in-store collection process.
How proactive are consumers when they receive this type of information?
Customer engagement is quite important when it comes to the delivery and the day of the delivery itself. Typically we focus on the engagement with the brand, but what we look at is how engagement with the consumer is on that specific delivery.
With our solution we see a huge increase in how engaged consumers are. The more proactive, timely and relevant the information is, the more interested consumers are. We have around 60 – 70% consumer engagement with the notifications we send. The information provided should not be too detailed but it should not also be very limited.
If somebody is engaged with content early on, around 60% of consumers refresh the page regularly. We’ve had cases and instances where clients refreshed the map in excess of 100 times, because they are so keen to know what is happening.
The most valuable and core information is where the driver is and when they will arrive at the address. Companies can choose to provide other information around regularly asked questions, or a help desk.
We also have a solution that allows the consumer, the driver and head office to have a conversation. It is low usage but very high impact, especially for consumers with special needs. If someone does not hear well, they can inform the driver to be louder. If they can’t walk fast enough, they can ask the driver to wait longer at the door. It has a big impact on the customer journey with the brand.
The post-purchase experience is also part of the customer journey and logistics has become responsible for it too. Getting feedback, however, is hard. How do we make it easier and more efficient?
In the retail space it is very common to receive a delivery and be asked for feedback in a week’s time. We send a survey straight away and we have seen that 90% of consumers reply within one hour from the delivery.
If there is some negative feedback, the company can speak directly with the consumer and resolve the issue. Sometimes it is not about fixing what happened but acknowledging it and promising not to do it again.
The logistics space is very competitive with low margins and being able to show that you have high positive feedback and you tackle the negative feedback is critical. This is a useful tool for organisations to win additional business.
You can watch the full interview with Gary below and learn more about consumer engagement with the delivery and post-purchase process. You can also learn more about Descartes Systems Group here and check other content we have created with Descartes here. ✷
