4 ways to earn repeat customers with delivery & returns
40% of e-commerce revenue is earned from repeat customers, but did you know that they make up only 8% of all customers? E-commerce is all about driving customer loyalty, and ensuring that you do everything possible to encourage your first-time buyers to become repeat customers. A 5% increase in customer retention has been shown to produce more than 25% increase in profit. Have you considered how your e-commerce delivery and returns strategy can play a role in driving repeat customers?
Two vitally important elements in ensuring repeat customers, are delivery and returns. A recent study found that fast and free delivery and returns, are the main drivers for ensuring customer loyalty. There are also a few other delivery-related items that you should consider addressing to offer your customers the highest quality delivery experience. In this blog we’ll cover the following 4 topics:
- Offer your customers delivery choice
- Enable smooth Track & Trace
- Make sustainable delivery standard
- Ensure Frictionless returns
1. Deliver repeat customers with delivery choice
There isn’t much worse than getting to the checkout only to find limited, or vague, delivery information available. A few simple tips to increase retention and conversion:
- Allow your customers to choose their preferred delivery date (i)
- Communicate which carriers will be responsible for each delivery option (ii)
- Indicate exact delivery dates eg: delivered between Tuesday 23 and Thursday 25 March (iii)
- Offer a visual view of Store & Pick Up Point locations on a map, with opening times and distance (second image)
Here are a few examples using the Paazl Checkout Widget, which show how you can offer your customers more delivery choice:
2. Track & Trace
Consumers want to be able to follow their packages every step of the way, so offering a concise and easy to use tracking function post-purchase is essential. Your customers should receive status updates throughout their parcel’s journey to their desired delivery location. With Paazl, you have access to white label notification templates that you can fully customize to match your brand.
If you use Paazl track & trace, we will pro-actively request status information from the carrier concerned and send notifications at the various status transitions during transit. This means you won’t be passively reliant on the carrier for information regarding a parcel’s whereabouts, nor will your customer have to log into the carrier’s website. Handy! Plus, you can choose whether you send the updates yourself, or whether Paazl sends them on your behalf.
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3. Champion sustainability, gain repeat customers
Sustainability is on everyone’s minds, so that includes your customers’. But how do you encourage them to make the sustainable choice surrounding delivery? There are two tips based on recent Thuiswinkel research that have been shown to significantly improve the percentage of customers that choose the most sustainable delivery option you have available:
- Inform your customers about the CO2 emissions of each of your delivery options
- Pre-select your most sustainable option as your default option
- Optional extra tip: Make your most sustainable option the first available option.
4. Frictionless returns
Frictionless returns. Returns are a constant issue in e-commerce, but consumers have grown to expect that returning items that they no longer want or need, whatever the reason, should be a free and seamless experience. 92% of consumers in a recent survey said they would purchase again if the returns process was easy, and 79% want free returns when purchasing.
The emphasis remains on communication, and ensuring that your customers are aware of the returns status throughout the process. With Paazl, you can easily print return labels and send track and trace emailsfor your returns, making sure your customers know exactly where their returned package is, and when you have successfully received it.
Paazl is the platform for quality delivery in e-commerce.
Paazl delivers more satisfied and engaged customers for your brand and helps your business grow globally.
We enable you to create the best delivery experience possible.
Contact us and we will be happy to tell you more about how we’re powering the promise that brands like G-Star RAW, TAG Heuer, Under Armour, VanMoof and Rituals make to their customers.