One of the main reasons that customers abandon their basket (if they even get that far) is because the delivery doesn’t match up to their expectations or needs. This could be because of the cost, timescale or lack of options available to them.

So it stands to reason that if you want to increase your e-commerce sales, you need to perfect your delivery and shipping strategy. And this covers every aspect of your shipping process from packaging to delivery.

So if you want to know more about how you can increase your e-commerce sales through your delivery strategy, you’ve come to the right place. Read on to find out how.

Offer free shipping where possible

Free shipping can be a great way to incentivise consumers to make a purchase through your site. Most obviously, because it saves them money, so they’ll be more inclined to order through you, rather than another company that doesn’t offer free shipping.

Just remember, if you’re going to offer free shipping you need to make sure you’re more than covering the costs of your packaging and shipping. If you aren’t covering your costs, it might not be wise to include a free option. 

You can also use free shipping as a tool to encourage customers to buy more. You’ve probably seen this technique on many e-commerce sites before and usually, it is a banner that says something like ‘free shipping over £50’.

If a customer has almost reached the qualifying amount or there are other items they wanted but weren’t sure whereto to purchase, this can be all the persuasion they need to make a bigger order. Therefore, helping to increase your sales.

Include a next day delivery service

Another great way to increase sales is to offer a next day delivery option. But again, this will depend on several factors.

Firstly, you might need to set conditions for how late in the day the customer can place an order to receive next day delivery. Most websites will say something like ‘order before 2pm for next day delivery’.

But where possible, offering this quick turn around service can be a key selling point. Think about it, if a consumer is looking for a new outfit for the following evening or perhaps they’ve ordered a product and they simply cannot wait to receive it, they’ll be pleased to see they can get next day delivery.

After all, we live in an always-on culture and increasingly consumers expect their goods to arrive within a day or two. So offering this as a delivery option can be a huge incentive for customers to use your site. As long as you can deliver of course!

Use a tracked courier service

We are all busy people and having a better idea of when our parcel is going to arrive makes it much easier to plan to either be home or have someone else there to collect the parcel for you (or provide other instructions if not).

As such, customers prefer services that can be tracked so they can keep an eye on their parcel’s journey. Most courier services will provide a tracking number when you send a parcel with them and these usually offer detailed updates on the whereabouts of the parcel.

In fact, some services are so detailed they even allow you to see where the delivery driver is on their route and how many stops they have before they reach your door.

For this reason, choosing a courier service rather than standard, untracked postage can boost the customer experience.

Use attractive or branded packaging

Another important part of the delivery strategy that can be easy to forget about is the packaging you use to send your items to your customers. Why is this a good way to boost sales?

Using fun, attractive or branded packaging can be a great way to impress your customers and can also act as an additional bit of advertising for the business by getting your name out there.

Not only this but you might be familiar with unboxing videos online.

As the name suggests, these are videos of people unboxing products and narrating their actions and opinions as they go. They then share these online. Some of these videos have amassed millions of views, proving to be very popular with the younger generation.

And the packaging is very much a part of this! People love to share on social media and beautiful, neat packaging can be the perfect way to get a great review and also to encourage people to share their images of your goods online.

So be sure to consider how you’re packaging your goods and if there are any other additional touches you can add, such as hand-written notes or freebies, to make the experience even better.

A great shipping and delivery experience can lead to return customers

The final suggestion in this guide follows on from our points about customer experience and packaging. Ultimately, by spending some time perfecting your delivery and shipping strategy, you can help to give your customer the best possible experience.

Though it might not have mattered in the past, increasingly consumers enjoy the unboxing and aesthetics of a package/brand almost as much as receiving the product itself. They also expect to have several delivery options available to them, even better if next day delivery is available.

So it’s vital to remember that a great shipping and delivery experience can lead to new and returning customers and therefore can help to boost sales in the long run.

In summary

So as you can see, your delivery and shipping strategy can play a huge role in attracting new and return customers. And we know there is a lot to take in here so we’ve pulled together a quick summary of the key points you should take away from this guide:

• Try to offer free shipping where possible
• You should also include a next day delivery service if possible
• Consider using a tracked courier
• Make your packaging attractive and possibly branded
• Include additional touches where possible (such as notes or freebies)

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