The cost of not delivering your promises

Failing to ensure you choose the correct carrier for your business can cost you in the long run. If you are not careful you could end up with disgruntled customers if the service level you promised is broken as a result of your carrier.

Examples of mismatched service delivery are common, recently Expense Reduction Analysts were discussing with a client the pitfalls of choosing an incorrect courier service:

• The organisation in question purchased a range of products from an online retailer to be delivered to a residential address because of the amount of products being purchased was cheaper than purchasing in a local store.

• No delivery time slot was given when purchased and as a result no-one was in to sign for it, resulting in a failed delivery. A call was made to the customer services team to reschedule a delivery second delivery slot.

• No second delivery attempt was made, resulting in the organisation having to collect from the parcel depot direct (a 54 mile round trip), now costing more than purchasing in the local store.

• Some of the products had to be returned for as they were incorrect, but no one arrived to pick it up. The biggest cost, however, was to the online retailer as the organisation realised that the local store was actually cheaper, when factoring in the additional cost of the carrier’s failure.

The online retailer lost out on repeat business and also a recommendation. This additional cost and loss of future business could have been prevented by choosing the right carrier for their business model.

Here are some cost saving tips you can use to ensure your consumers are given the correct level of service:

• Communicating the delivery and any issues with your customer is key

• Choose the right carrier with the right infrastructure for residential deliveries

• Choose a carrier with a simple reverse logistics (returns) function

• Choose a carrier who has the right tariff structure for residential deliveries

• Ecommerce invites more sales overseas, so make sure you have a robust international shipping option

Ecommerce logistics is a rapidly evolving arena and failing to select the right carrier can create unnecessary cost and unhappy consumers.