Consumer-driven logistics 3 of 6: driving forces and challenges

Consumer-driven logistics 3 of 6: driving forces and challenges

Part 3 of 6
Consumers, especially in more mature e-commerce markets, are making ever-clearer demands that they themselves should be able to have influence over how their orders are delivered. Satisfying consumers’ wishes is becoming a business-critical issue for e-tailers. “Customer obsession” is an expression you often hear today, and the winners will be those companies that best meet the consumers’ demands.

Choosing delivery point easily by mobileOne of the most critical challenges today lies in the fact that the consumer has power throughout the purchasing sequence right up until delivery, but the power often ends there. Many sellers have not given the consumer the opportunity to control the delivery. When consumers do get the option of influencing delivery by selecting a delivery method and choosing where, when and how delivery will take place – and perhaps can adjust delivery even after check-out – then the logistics are working and can contribute to an even stronger relationship between the buyer and seller.

We have put together six recommendations that can help form the view of how consumer-driven logistics should be developed in order to strengthen the consumer’s buying experience. The third follows below.

Recommendation 3 – give a choice of delivery points

The service-minded retailer should be able to offer a choice of delivery points. Today’s consumers want deliveries to fit into their daily lives, and they expect everything to go as smoothly as possible. What they need from a delivery varies depending on what they buy, when they buy it and how important the purchase is to them. The closest delivery point may not always be the most suitable.

Being able to choose appropriate delivery points for each purchase makes a significant difference in a customer’s satisfaction. The ability and freedom to choose between delivery to home, workplace, a service point or another person for each order is a very important variable.

Olof Källgren, Market Information Manager, Direct Link

This is the third recommendation, out of six, that can help form the view of how consumer-driven logistics should be developed in order to strengthen the consumer’s buying experience. Part 1 was about clear and simple delivery options , and part 2 recommended offering a choice of delivery options.

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