By Hubbed founder and CEO David McLean.
With online shopping booming and Christmas gift buying just ahead of us, Australian online retailers can increase sales and convert visitors to customers by enacting changes to their delivery and returns systems.
Delivery, returns, and theft concerns make online shoppers cautious, and this impacts online retailers. It’s not good for a brand’s reputation if deliveries don’t arrive as intended or go missing – as a consequence, brands suffer from poor customer experience.
A survey recently undertaken by Hubbed revealed 75.2% of online shoppers have had to contend with missed deliveries, re-scheduling deliveries, incorrect delivery address, inconvenient pick-up locations, and longer than advised delivery times.
Online shopping in Australia continues to set a cracking pace with purchases up 26.9% year-on-year (YOY) for the 12 months to 31 July 2021. Lockdowns in NSW and Victoria only added to delivery volume. NSW purchases increased 12.6% from 27 June 2021 to 21 August 2021. In Victoria, online shopping grew 14.5% week-on-week in the seven days to 21 August (Inside Australian Online Shopping eCommerce update released August 2021).
This increase in consumer behaviour has a flow on effect when it comes to the last-mile delivery sector and potential delivery hiccups.
As online shopping continues to rise and Covid-19 limits driver availability, timely deliveries will be stretched.
Supporting density of delivery for carriers helps improve delivery timeframes. Carriers dropping off large volumes in a single drop to a Hubbed location increases their delivery efficiency and reduces carbon emissions.
Here are my top tips for improving ecommerce delivery and returns.
- Offer multiple delivery options. This satisfies increasing consumer demand for choice and control. Customers are placing just as much emphasis on how and where they receive their purchase as the purchase itself. Same day, next day, and express delivery options are just the start.
- Ensure you have a good returns model in place. A strong refund and returns policy can mean the difference between converting a visitor to a customer. A sound returns policy gives confidence to the buyer, while a streamlined refund process, preferable with a convenient drop-off location, offers peace of mind and helps combat buyer hesitancy.
- Consider sustainability. Reducing your carbon footprint and showcasing actions taken towards sustainability resonates with customers. Brands should be thinking about everything from their packaging materials to delivery services. Delivery to collection points typically reduces carbon emission by 43% versus delivery to home. Further missed deliveries create an extra burden on our roads and environment.
- Support local. Australians have an innate desire to support Australian business and hyper-local services. Consider partners and suppliers who are using Aussie products in all parts of your product or service delivery. Online shoppers will notice and appreciate it.
- Have a strong click and collect offer. Enabling customers to choose a click and collect option at a location near them offers increased reliability, convenience, and lowers your carbon footprint through less traffic congestion and CO2 Secure parcel delivery also means less temptation for porch pirates!
Hubbed was launched in 2014, initially to make missed deliveries more cost-efficient for carriers and give consumers more convenience and choice for their parcel pick-up. Out of home delivery is a safe, convenience option to offer online shoppers.
Partner retailers offering Hubbed’s service note a better brand experience for their customers, knowing their product will arrive securely. With a focus on security and conveniece, Hubbed’s network of over 2000 pick-up and drop-off (PUDO) locations ensures parcels are delivered and secured until customers are ready to pick them up with many locations available 24/7.
As opposed to other click and collect solutions, Hubbed connects with most major ecommerce platforms including Shopify and Magento and courier services including Toll, TNT, UPS, Sendle, DHL, and Couriers Please. Hubbed’s agnostic service allows retailers to still use their preferred courier or delivery partner.
When purchasing from Hubbed partners, online shoppers simply nominate their preferred Hubbed pick-up location, then collect it when notified it has arrived.
For more information, visit hubbed.com.
About Hubbed
Hubbed is a leading Australian agnostic parcel collection network designed to make last-mile shopping deliveries easier for online retailers, consumers, and parcel delivery services. Established in 2014, Hubbed comprises more than 2000 locations in Australia, including 7-Eleven, bp service stations, Pack & Send, National Storage, Snap Printing and independent retailers. The Hubbed PUDO network is utilised by key local and global carriers, including Couriers Please, DHL, FedEx, Sendle, TOLL, TNT, and UPS. In 2019, Hubbed expanded to New Zealand with plans for further expansion to the Philippines in 2021.
