Online shopping is quickly taking over major buying holidays. In fact, 69% of buyers will shop online this Black Friday as opposed to the typical in-store option. If you want to stay ahead, following some Black Friday delivery tips will help you make your customers experience a favourable one.
Online selling requires different strategies than in-store. Customers can’t see items before they buy, so more effort needs to be put into showing their value. But Black Friday is a prime opportunity to boost sales, if you can do it right.
Successfully growing sales requires your entire store to be streamlined to offer the best experience possible. From the time buyers browse products until they receive them at their door, they’re critiquing your store. Everything within this time affects how they perceive you overall, making every step just as important as the last.
Delivery, in particular, can sway a customer’s opinion of your store. How you handle the delivery process directly impacts the level of trust they are willing to give to your business. Here are some of the top reasons to focus on delivery this holiday season, and how you can make it one of your strongest points.
Why Focus on Black Friday Deliveries
Deliveries bring the online shopping experience to a close. While a good delivery experience can improve a customer’s view of your store, a bad one can do the opposite. Customers are much less likely to buy from a seller after even just one bad delivery experience. Hence, delivery should be your point of focus if you want to turn Black Friday buyers into long term customers.
Black Friday is a great opportunity to boost sales, even while offering discounts. Customers are looking for the best deals, but more buyers are likely to shop and can therefore help you sell more much quicker. Overall order values also tend to be higher over the Black Friday weekend, and taking advantage of this means you can earn significantly more.
In addition to sales, Black Friday is an opportunity to grow your customer base and spread awareness for your brand. The influx in buyers is a chance to convert one-time customers to loyal buyers. All of this relies on creating a great experience for customers free of errors and stress.
A strong first impression can do wonders for your online business. The first time a customer buys from you affects how likely they are to come back, and this holiday season is your chance to convert better than ever. When you play your cards right, you can use Black Friday to consistently grow sales in your future, and not just this holiday season.
Black Friday Delivery Tips for Online Sellers
Optimizing your delivery strategies will have an impact on your business as a whole. The effect of a strong delivery process is much larger than it seems. If you want to see what improved delivery standards can do for your business, check out this resource.
Here are seven of the best tips for improving your deliveries this Black Friday.
1. Keep deliveries fast
When shopping during the biggest sale of the year, customers want to get their items fast. Although online shopping is likely to increase, customers are still not willing to wait days to receive their items. In fact, most customers expect online orders to make it to their house the day they order it.
Same-day or next-day deliveries are the key to standing out. Fast delivery options give customers a reason to pick your store over another, and offers them the convenience they are looking for.
Plus, same-day deliveries let you accomplish more in one day. Rather than tracking parcels for days on end and keeping up with customer queries, you can complete deliveries in a matter of hours. This means less work for you and much happier buyers.
2. Give customers visibility
Deliveries are only successful when customers end up happy. In order to make your customers happy, you need to keep them involved and give them the control they want over their deliveries.
If there’s one thing online buyer’s don’t like, it’s feeling left in the dark. There is no worse feeling than waiting weeks for a delivery without any updates, just hoping it’s going to show up one day. This not only causes the buyer to lose trust in your business, but they feel left out of the process and probably won’t return for another order.
Visibility into delivery orders means the ability to see what part of the process the delivery is at and gaining insight into when the parcel will ultimately be delivered. What customers really want is real-time updates on the delivery and to be able to see how changes have affected their order time.
For example, live tracking options where the customer can track their driver improves the accuracy of the estimated time of arrival. Customers can see the driver as they approach the drop-off destination and know when the parcel will arrive. Notifications throughout the delivery also keep customers informed. Letting customers know when parcels have been moved to different locations or have moved on to the next stage increase their trust in the final delivery time.
All of this is important for building trust with customers. They trust the delivery will arrive when it’s supposed to, and they’re not left waiting without an update on their order.
3. Integrate shipping to your online store
Managing deliveries can be one of the most time consuming parts of running an online store. Once your store is set up, customers can begin purchasing. But if after every purchase you have to then manually place that order for delivery, you might be losing more time than you realize.
For example, some couriers offer bulk upload options. This means you can upload all your current delivery information at once, reducing the need to input each one at a time. More deliveries can be placed without taking up hours of your day.
Even more efficient are APIs and plug-and-play apps. These types of integrations work right with your personal website or third-party shipping fee site. For example, if you host your website through Shopify, you can place orders directly from your Shopify dashboard. Hence, even less manual work is required, and groups of orders can all be placed at once.
4. Have clear return policies
One of the biggest hassles of all Black Friday deliveries is returns. Not only are you responsible for getting the item to the customer, but you’re responsible for getting it back if they are not happy with it.
The first thing to do is make sure your return policy is clearly identified on your website. Giving customers the ability to look it up themselves removes the need for you to explain it to them. Second, you need to have easy options that make it simple for customers to give back items. This might mean including return labels with your parcels or offering other options, like dropping their parcels off at your store for a return.
Whatever method you choose, difficult returns can upset customers, even if your deliveries are fast and easy. Returns can be costly for you when not done right, and might also cost you that same customer in the future.
5. Limit failed deliveries
Failed deliveries can cost you as the seller, and also ruin the experience of your customer. If there’s anything to take away from this list, it’s that failed deliveries have to be avoided.
So, how can failed deliveries have such a strong impact on your business? For multiple reasons. First, you are responsible for paying for the second delivery, depending on who your delivery partner is. Second, your customer is likely going to be upset their order was not delivered on time, ruining their impression of you.
Failed deliveries have a negative effect on everyone. But there are some ways to avoid them. For starters, failed deliveries typically occur when there’s a lack of communication. Oftentimes driver’s are unable to find the right address, get into apartment buildings, or receive a signature for certain parcels. All of this can be avoided if your delivery provider has the right resources available to contact the customer to solve these problems.
On the other hand, your tracking options might not be up to par. If the customer has no idea when the parcel is going to arrive, it’s nearly impossible for them to make sure they are there to collect it. Hence, live tracking can help deliveries be successful on the first attempt.
Parcels that are delivered the first time around will save you money and hopefully give buyers the great experience you’re hoping for. Avoiding failed deliveries is one of the Black Friday delivery tips you shouldn’t overlook.
6. Offer free or discounted shipping
Black Friday is all about finding the best deal. Sometimes, offering free delivery is one way to please customers, even if it’s just temporary.
Offering free shipping or delivery over the Black Friday weekend is likely to significantly increase your sales. Although you will need to cover the costs yourself, finding an affordable same-day delivery option can make this attainable, especially with the increase in volume Black Friday can bring. At the very least, discounted shipping gives customers one less thing to think about before placing an order.
Offering the best deal is the way to increase your Black Friday sales. Delivery costs are one of the most common reasons shopping carts are left abandoned, so offering the lowest price possible can turn more viewers into buyers.
6. Offer multiple delivery options
Lastly, offering various delivery options can open up avenues for customers to buy from your online store. There is no single option that suits everyone just as well, so giving them the ability to choose increases the odds they’ll place their order.
Customers typically don’t see delivery options until checkout. This is when they make the split decision – to place the order or not. Customers need options, and this means the choice between different speeds and price points. Offering more options means you appeal to more customers, not just the few who might choose each individual option.
Making Use of FlashBox
FlashBox is the ultimate solution to all your Black Friday delivery problems. You can offer fast, affordable delivery to customers without putting more work on yourself. If you’re looking to increase Black Friday orders, delivery is the place to start.
FlashBox offers everything you need as a merchant, as well as everything your customers need. This is all wrapped up in one flat-rate price that includes all delivery features, from every parcel size to delivery insurance. You don’t need to worry about any additional costs or surprise fees that come up when you’re not expecting them.
On the merchant side, you’re able to bulk-upload orders and reduce manual work. Or, you can integrate FlashBox directly into your website to place delivery orders from the place you know best. This also gives your customers the chance to choose FlashBox same-day delivery when placing an order online. Our basis in technology makes it easier for you to place orders and also reduces the chance that there will be errors when placing manual orders (meaning more successful deliveries!).
Another merchant benefit is the reduced customer support work. All FlashBox deliveries are taken care of by our Canada-based customer support team. They’re available six days a week and respond to all customer comments and questions in less than two minutes. With the increased communication from our team, your customers don’t need to worry about errors that will affect the delivery. In the case of an issue like an incomplete address or missing buzzer code, our support team reaches out to find the information to share with our drivers.
When working with FlashBox, your customers will receive live delivery updates throughout the day and can track their delivery driver on a map once they head to the customers destination. This increased visibility helps us deliver 99% of orders on-time and during the first attempt. Customers know when to expect deliveries and are ready to collect or sign for them once the driver arrives.
The Bottom Line for Black Friday Deliveries
With all of this being considered, Black Friday holds plenty of potential for those who are willing to work for the results. By putting your best foot forward to give your customers the best delivery service possible, you can improve the entire buying experience.
FlashBox can help you cut costs this holiday season without compromising on delivery quality. If you want to upgrade your delivery solution, create an account or speak to a delivery expert today!
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