Amazon set the standard for fast and easy delivery. But the eCommerce surge has undeniably brought the last mile to the forefront. Same-day delivery in particular has become an imperative for consumers.
There will be
Winning at Same-Day Delivery
5 Steps to Craft Your Competitive Advantage
global digital buyers by the end of 2021.
2.14 billion
56%
of online consumers 18 to 34 expect to have same-day delivery.
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Omnichannel retailers have the chance to amaze and delight their consumers through this speedy customer experience. After all, they have one key advantage that Amazon and many other pureplays don’t: their stores.
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But does your business have the tech, tools and systems in place to deliver upon the same-day delivery promise?
Here are five things to consider as you evaluate adding same-day delivery services.
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Customer Needs and Expectations
Omnichannel Inventory Visibility and Demand Levels
Order Management Capabilities
Vet and Onboard Delivery Partners
Customer Communication
Are my target consumers ‘Squad Shoppers’?
How do we plan to prioritize and scale our digital business moving forward?
Would Squad Shopping be a natural extension of our marketing and engagement strategies?
What third-party tools and apps will help us test and implement this efficiently?
Will our current infrastructure allow us to embrace Squad Shopping in an agile way?
Consideration 1
If you provide groceries or other essential items, same-day delivery is key to keeping pace. But there may be an opportunity to derive competitive advantage if you can profitability offer same-day delivery in other categories. Deep customer understanding can help you determine how expansive your list of delivery options (and their speeds) should be.
The simple (yet most critical) thing to ask yourself: is this something my customer even wants?
95%
of shoppers in the U.S. and UK say convenient delivery is a major decision factor when they’re choosing who to buy from online.
Consideration 2
During the pandemic, demand shocks and ongoing shifts in consumer behaviors made it difficult for retailers to get a clear picture of product demand; and because these behaviors varied so much at the store level, inventory accuracy was a moving target. To create a competitive advantage with same-day delivery, you must have a clear picture of where all products are in order to pick, pack and deliver orders in an efficient and profitable way.
of consumers want real-time visibility of an item’s stock levels.
44%
Look carefully at pre- and post-pandemic demand and purchase patterns.
Quick Tips
Start by offering same-day delivery on a limited number of product categories or SKUs to gauge consumer response and better manage demand.
Correlate demand insights with inventory levels across your network of stores, warehouses and fulfillment centers.
Consideration 3
Objectively evaluate your stores’ order management capabilities before embarking on a fulfillment service that will put new time pressures on every phase of the order lifecycle.
of retailers plan to implement and improve their buy online, ship-from-store capabilities.
51%
Document and verify every stage of pick-and-pack processes for each store format to ensure they are reliable, repeatable and supported by your order management technology.
Carefully evaluate in-store inventory accuracy and availability to your commerce platform.
Ensure the order integration between your commerce platform and your stores is timely, accurate and reliable.
Stores are powerful assets that omnichannel retailers can use to pick, pack and deliver orders quickly and efficiently. But you need to think through the end-to-end process to ensure it’s seamless for employees and customers.
For example, Best Buy CEO Corie Barry shared in the retailer’s Q1 2021 earnings call that 60% of online revenue was “either picked up in-store or curbside, shipped from a store or delivered by a store employee.” That requires a lot of coordination!
Consideration 4
Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve seen the use of restaurant and grocery delivery apps skyrocket. Some retailers and brands are trying to extract value from this growth and simultaneously get products to customers faster. But there are many other last mile companies out there designed to help you turn same-day into a competitive advantage. Research available options and make sure that they can provide the level of experience you (and your customers) expect. Your brand integrity and revenue results will be at stake!
Same-Day Partnerships In Action
Waitrose, the British supermarket, partnered with Deliveroo to give customers mobile access to 700 Waitrose and branded products across categories. These items are picked, packed and shipped from local stores, and can arrive at consumers’ doorsteps in as little as 20 minutes.
Party City partnered with Hertz and Shipt to try and manually stand up same-day delivery during the pandemic. The retailer ultimately implemented Bringg to further automate and optimize the experience.
The Home Depot tapped Roadie to outsource same-day delivery services. This “on the way delivery” service taps into a network of gig workers who are already out and about, which helps accelerate delivery times.
Sephora drove industry and consumer buzz by announcing a partnership with Instacart. Together, the companies brought the perks of Sephora’s Beauty Insider loyalty program into the Instacart marketplace and adopted other features to make it easy for consumers to shop the retailer’s 300 brands.
Consideration 5
When fulfilling your same-day delivery promise to customers, communication is critical to success. Ask them to opt-in to emails and text-message updates so you can keep them in the loop at every stage of the fulfillment process. Develop a journey map of all key stages of the process and find subtle ways to improve transparency and customer satisfaction.
Product unavailable; apology email: suggest a replacement or offer refund; confirm new order / refund
Order received
Order picked and packed
Order out for delivery
Order delivered
Ask for feedback and cross-promote related items
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Stand Out in the Same-Day Delivery Era
Consumers are seeking more delivery options that meet their immediate needs. But if you want to offer same-day delivery to your customers, you need strong order management systems in place. This will serve as your foundation for future fulfillment innovation, whether it be ship-by-drone or autonomous vehicles. Aptos Enterprise Order Management can help you optimize your same-day delivery experiences. Our integrated, 360-degree view of all order management operations supports informed decisions that satisfy impatient customers and boost your bottom line:
LEARN MORE ABOUT APTOS ORDER MANAGEMENT
Download the Forrester OMS Wave Report
Up-to-date inventory availability
Real-time worklists
Real-time tracking and monitoring
Integration to POS
Stores can’t fulfill from stock they don’t possess. Access to the latest inventory position in every store ensures you only make promises that your stores can keep.
As store orders are placed and picked, we manage a synchronized worklist so that decision makers and store associates alike can pick, pack, manage and monitor the status of every order.
Every store order is constantly tracked at every step of the fulfillment lifecycle to ensure that customer expectations are met and any exceptions are handled quickly and effectively.
Tight integration into POS systems ensures that every associate has access to all orders, and that add-on sales for items selected inside the store can be easily added to buy online, pickup in-store (BOPIS) transactions.
Up to date inventory availability
