same-day e-commerce fulfillment

Same-day delivery is exactly what it sounds like: the ability to get a product to the customer within 24 hours of the order being placed. It’s a growing form of e-commerce fulfillment that big players like Amazon have been investing in.

What Do Customer Think About Same Day Product Delivery?

Although all customer groups show a preference for same-day product delivery services, an overwhelming 64% of Millennials are more likely to take same-day options when available. This youth trend extends to families as well: 63% of families with children under the age of 18 lean sharply towards same-day delivery options. What this adds up to is a population that is going to grow up expecting online purchased products to reach them faster, and these preferences are going to trickle down to the next generation. Businesses are on the cusp of a new era in e-commerce fulfillment and companies that incorporate same-day delivery will be able to ride the wave instead of getting swept over.

The Challenges of Same-Day Delivery

There are, of course, obvious challenges with same-day product delivery that are not easily solved. Same-day delivery is only practical if sufficient supply and demand exists for the service to warrant its expenses. An e-commerce business needs to have distribution centers in multiple locations in order to have a chance of serving a meaningful number of customers as well. Even with cutoff times and date restrictions, there is inevitably going to be a point when it is impossible to perform same-day delivery without spectacular violations of road safety. These are challenges that require size, agility, and supply infrastructure that most small, medium, or even large businesses do not possess. Recall that eBay had to cancel its own same-day offerings because it couldn’t properly rise to the task.

The Importance of On-Time Delivery in e-Commerce Business

Maintain Reputation

You don’t ever want to develop the reputation among your clients for not delivering products on time. Few things are more damaging to client’s faith in your company. And as a small business, reputation is everything. It’s hard to build and easy to lose, so you have to protect it at all costs.

Customer Satisfaction

Customers today can afford to be demanding. There’s an unlimited amount of options available, and if you aren’t able to send their deliveries on time, it won’t take them long to find a competitor who will. Other than something being wrong with the product itself, there are few things that annoy customers more than late deliveries.

Solidify Relationships

Once you show your customer that you are able to deliver their orders on time, you begin to build trust. They trust that they can depend on your services in addition to believing in your product. This solidifies your relationship at opens the door for these customers to try other product offerings.

Win Back Lost Customers

There are different ways to go about winning back customers you might have thought you had lost. One way is to impress them with punctual delivery. It’s possible you may have previously messed up with the product or some other issue, but showing customers that you value their time and that you can keep your word can start rebuilding that trust.

Increase Profits/Sales

There is a direct link between customer confidence in your brand and increased revenue. If you show your customers that you are reliable all the way around, then they feel more comfortable and confident in spending more money.

Maintain Professionalism

Someone showing up to a meeting late is seen as unprofessional and as showing a lack of respect for that person’s time. The same goes for late deliveries. It’s just not something that’s tolerated. You need to implement a cohesive system that ensures the overwhelming majority of deliveries are done on time.

Fulfillment Companies Can Partner For Progress

The most readily available solution for e-commerce businesses that lack the size to handle same-day delivery is to look to those that do. Third-party product fulfillment companies possess centralized distribution and warehousing facilities, the resources to handle large scale operations, and the delivery infrastructure to help make same-day delivery services a reality.

Since third-party fulfillment services are already valuable to e-commerce endeavors, it’s possible you may already be working with one right now. In that case, talk to your provider to see if arrangements can be made to offer same-day delivery within a certain radius of one of their facilities. Between regular delivery methods, rapid couriers, and services like FedEx and UPS, your fulfillment provider has a number of ways to make such arrangements work successfully.

APS Fulfillment, Inc. is a specialist in e-commerce product fulfillment, direct-mail marketing and product warehousing and is based in Miami, Florida. We’ve stored, sorted, and delivered products of all shapes and sizes for all kinds of companies and are more than prepared for the exciting challenges waiting in the new year. Contact us by phone at 954-582-7450 or by email at [email protected] for more ways third-party warehousing, and e-commerce product fulfillment services can support and grow your online business.

Also read: What Are the Different Types of Shipping Methods?