What are the reasons of delivery delays and how
to cope with them

Today shopping is easy as never. No need to go to brick and mortar shops.People can buy something without leaving home. Everything they need is a gadget with the Internet connection. So, they just choose the desired item, order it and wait until a courier delivers it.

For businesspeople eCommerce is also a big advantage as there is no need for renting physical stores or buying it. Doing business becomes simpler and more profitable. What you need is only creating an eCommerce website for your online store.

However, just like in any other case, there are some challenges you may face. One of the biggest and most common is connected with delivery services. The matter is that sometimes you cannot avoid delivery delays. But what causes them and what to do in such a situation?

Possible reasons for delivery delays

For avoiding delivery delays it is important to know what are the kinds of them and why they appear. We can divide the causes of delivery delays in certain groups:

Bad weather conditions

We are only human beings and depend on poor weather conditions. Consequently, dense fog, heavy storm or hailstorm become the obstacles to deliver products to customers in time.

Problems with documentation

In some situations, there are documentation mistakes which were made by either the retailer or the customer and caused delivery delay. To such mistakes belong order forms which were incorrectly completed, misspelled addresses and lack of information about the order. For example, there are cases when the retailer doesn’t document the order appropriately because handle several tasks simultaneously.

Logistical problems

Usually, these problems are the main reason for delivery delays. And it can be very bad especially for small eCommerce businesses. If there are too many orders the delivery services may not cope with them. In this case, outsourcing your delivery services is the best variant of solving such problems.

Technical problems

It may occur when you have a bad hosting company. Remember that very often your online store has to work 24 hours a day every day. So, be careful while choosing a hosting company if you don’t want to have your system failed and your orders not responded on time.

What impact can delivery delays have on your business?

Without any doubt, delivery delays affect your business in a negative way. You will definitely lose many sales if you don’t solve the problems which are related to delivery. Your customers know that there can be some human errors but when they repeat they will don’t trust you anymore and find another company. To conclude, your reputation depends mostly on the ability to deliver products quickly and on schedule.

What is more, the delivery time plays an important role when we speak about customer retention. The reason is that when a client has a bad experience while receiving an order there are a few chances that he will buy something again from your company. Consequently, you will not have many loyal customers.

What to do if the order is delayed?

In order to avoid delivery delays you can specify minimum and maximum delivery time, use automated logistic software or better prepare your warehouse. However, what should your behavior be in case the order is delayed?

First of all, tell your customer immediately about the delayed order. You may use SMS or emails for it but we recommend you to make a call. It is better because in that way you will show your customer that you value him and you won’t spend much time writing messages.

Secondly, honesty is significant in such situations. You should tell the truth why the delivery is delayed without blaming on your partners. You are responsible for it so don’t shift the blame on to somebody. If you show that you are really sorry and will quickly solve the problem you can save the loyalty of this customer.

Thirdly, if your customer wants to cancel the delayed order let him do it. There are different circumstances, so you should also understand this person. Giving him an opportunity to decide you can make him buy in your store next time.

Fourthly, inform your customer about the current status of his order. You can do it by providing him with an ability to check this status online through push notifications on your website.

And finally, you may give your customer some rewards for his patient waiting. It can be either a gift or a discount coupon for some products. Use your imagination.

All in all, you should choose professional service providers in order to avoid delivery delays. But if there is something which you cannot control, be honest with your clients and use our tips in order to keep their trust and value.