Customer Service

3 strategies to optimize customer experience before and during shipping delays

It's clear that delivering excellent CX before and during shipping delays is essential to retaining and building strong relationships with customers. Here are three ways brands can build strong CX before and during unavoidable delivery delays to help drive continued customer loyalty:

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April 25, 2022 by Retail Customer Experience

By Sean Whitley, VP of Sales, Americas at Mitto.

How many delivery delays have you experienced in the last year? If it's at least one, you are not alone. New research from Mitto found that over three quarters of consumers have experienced a delivery delay in the last year.

And despite hopes that the global supply chain disruptions of 2021 wouldn't survive 2022, they remain. While retailers in all industries are greatly affected, brands — who have little control over delays — can stem growing customer frustration.

Our company's research found that the overwhelming majority of customers are willing to cut brands slack if they associate that brand with good customer experiences. In fact, an overwhelming majority of the 1,000 Americans we surveyed said they are more likely to have patience around delivery delays with a brand they already associate with good customer service and good customer experience makes waiting for a product bearable.

Unfortunately, respondents said that not all brands are delivering on this. For brands contending with shipping delays and frustrated customers, there is plenty of room for improvement.

Embrace consumers' preferred channels of communication

The average consumer continues to use a wide range of channels like SMS, chat apps or social media, to communicate with family, friends and colleagues. It's no different when they want to engage with a brand. Brands wanting to communicate shipping delays to their consumers must embrace those channels that consumers prefer most, while also thinking about when they communicate.

More than one-third of respondents said they prefer SMS, social media and messenger apps when communicating with brands on shipping delays. Additionally, when sharing communications around a shipment delay, respondents said they want brands to send follow up texts with regular updates (62%), contact them in a timely manner (57%) and send personalized messages from a bot (51%). These insights reinforce how vital it is for brands to get in front of consumers in a timely and personalized manner on their preferred channels in order to maintain a positive perception.

2.Become even more attentive

Delivery delays aren't a time to peel back on attentive customer service. Our research found an overwhelming majority (79%) of consumers said they expect to receive a more attentive CX when their shipment has been delayed. However, not all brands are delivering on these expectations; 61% of respondents said that for each shipping delay they experience, the customer experience is poor at least 20% of the time. And less than half (44%) believe brands try to provide better customer service to compensate for their shipment being delayed. In fact, 14% said the CX is worse during a delivery delay.

Over half of respondents said they will cancel their order if the customer experience is bad, so don't let a single delayed delivery turn into a canceled order or, worse, a lost customer. Delivery delays are both a hurdle and an opportunity to accelerate your CX and turn a customer into a loyal one, even if the circumstances are challenging.

3. Room for second chances with good CX

Only 11% of respondents said that one delay during the course of a year would force them to never shop with that brand again. This churn, however, more than doubles after the second delivery delay; one in four (26%) said two delays over a year would force them to never shop with a brand again.

However, this can be mitigated with established strong CX. 93% of the 1,000 Americans we surveyed said they are more likely to have patience around delivery delays with a brand they already associate with good customer service while 96% of those same respondents said that a good customer experience makes waiting for a product bearable. By establishing a reputation of delivering a great customer experience before delivery delays and all year round, consumers are more likely to give brands second chances when faced with a delivery delay.

Conclusion

It's crucial that brands prioritize attentive communication methods before and during delivery delays, otherwise they run the risk of canceled orders and abandoned customer relationships. Don't let uncontrollable shipping delays sour hard-won customer relationships.

Learn more about how omnichannel messaging can help your brand better engage and connect with your customers.