Delivery service, a key factor in customer satisfaction

Be present throughout the e-shopper's buying experience

Consumers want quality service throughout the buying process, including smooth delivery. To reassure your customers and build their loyalty, it's important to support them every step of the way.

Beforehand, take care to provide all the necessary information about order preparation and delivery times. Indicate which carrier will take charge of the parcel, as well as the different delivery methods on offer (home delivery, point relais, post office, etc.) and how this will work in practice. Use carrier communication kits, such as the Colissimo kit.

Don't forget to communicate about the different tracking options available to personalise the experience (on your website, via the carrier's tracking number on its website, smartphone app or by email, etc.), and inform people about the alternative solutions available if the recipient is absent. Colissimo's Flex services allow you to locate your parcel, receive personalised notifications throughout the process or change the date or location during delivery.

Finally, to ensure optimum customer satisfaction, it's vital to offer a delivery service that's adapted to each individual's habits. To do this, don't hesitate to put in place customer feedback solutions such as questionnaires, which will be very useful in gathering the opinions and feelings of your customers.

Propose the right delivery solutions

Consumers are changing: they're more mobile and therefore want more flexibility! To improve customer satisfaction, you need to adapt the delivery methods on offer to suit their habits. Your customers will appreciate being able to choose the delivery method that suits them from a range of different solutions.

• In-store delivery: this solution guarantees simple, fast and often free delivery of your customer's parcel. Customers can pick up their order in one of your shops, at their convenience. Ideally, delivery times for click & collect should be at least as long as for traditional delivery, if not shorter: customers often think that the stock is directly in your shop and find it hard to understand why it could take longer.
• Home delivery with signature and without contact: practical, secure and adapted to the health context, Colissimo's contactless delivery is ideal for your customers! Receipt of the parcel is confirmed by a QR code and a confidential 6-digit code to be given to the postman. It's a safe and secure solution for higher-value products, or when customers need more guarantees! With Colissimo, if the recipient is absent, they can take advantage of a range of services (the Flex services) to make it easier to receive their order.
• Home delivery without a signature: this delivery method is simple and straightforward. If the letterbox is large enough, the parcel is delivered directly to the recipient's letterbox. If not, the parcel will be delivered by hand, and if they are not there when the postman comes, your customer can also benefit from Flex services. This solution requires less effort and is a source of satisfaction: at Colissimo, a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 58 was observed when the parcel was left in a letterbox and 61 when it was delivered by hand to the customer's home (1).
• Collection point delivery: the most practical solution for customers who are not available at home during the day. It offers all the flexibility they need, guaranteeing delivery to a safe place, especially if they live in a block of flats without a letterbox, and often at a more attractive price.

Customers' needs and expectations can change depending on the context: the health situation and the spread of teleworking, for example, have encouraged home delivery.

Customer satisfaction and delivery: optimise your returns policy!

The returns policy is an integral part of an optimised delivery service. In fact, 49% of buyers consider a simplified returns policy to be an important criterion (2). So, for impeccable customer service, parcel returns must be accompanied and even simplified. This is a powerful argument for reassuring e-consumers and convincing them to turn to you for their online purchases.

Once again, remember to communicate all the necessary information on your website and at every stage of the purchasing process. A well-informed customer is a reassured customer, more likely to finalise his order and remain loyal to your brand.

Colissimo's D+2 rapid returns solution ensures personalised handling of returns. Your customers can choose their preferred method of delivery (to a post office or Pickup relay, or even from their letterbox) and track the return of their parcel.

Call on trusted service providers

A bad delivery experience (damaged or lost parcel, delivery times not respected, etc.) has a negative impact on customer satisfaction. The consequences are not insignificant: 39% of consumers say they will no longer buy from a website after a bad delivery experience (3). This makes it difficult to win back these dissatisfied customers.

The solution to reduce this risk is to surround yourself with qualified service providers who are experts in their field and who listen to your problems. To ensure efficient management of your deliveries, your service provider must offer you the following guarantees:

• high availability, even at the busiest times of the year,
• the ability to adapt to your needs and those of your e-buyers,
• a clear offer.

La Poste - Colissimo helps you manage your delivery service, advising you on the most appropriate solutions to deploy, while sharing its CSR commitments since 2012.

The health crisis has caused e-commerce to explode, but consumers weren't waiting around to be demanding! Flexible delivery, an omnichannel solution, security and availability, a good experience, even environmentally responsible delivery... Customers are now taking more time to compare different e-commerce sites before making a purchase. That's why, very often, delivery is the point that will set you apart from your competitors. To optimise your delivery service and boost customer satisfaction so that your customers not only buy from you but, above all, repeat the experience, call on our team of experts.