In this story
The Academy Brand is a lifestyle and apparel company with a philosophy focused on clean, classic, and accessible fashion. Passionate about fostering trust and loyalty with their customers, The Academy Brand is focused on creating a long-lasting relationship with their customers. With distribution in leading fashion chains, five physical stores, and a booming online store, the retailer was looking for a solution that would help them scale their direct to customer shipping process
"Shippit has completely saved us from the courier mishaps that used to upset our customers. Game on."
Paul Dennis, Brand Manager
Reduce customer complaints and improve retention
The Academy Brand became reliant upon courier companies to represent their brand during the last mile of the sales funnel. As sales grew, dealing with the increase in customer queries and complaints became a full-time job for their ecommerce manager, limiting strategic initiatives for the brand.
Pain points
- Inconsistent delivery tracking: The Academy Brand was left to decipher tracking statuses across different carriers by logging in to multiple systems to come up with a single source of truth.
- Excessive carrier contact: Customer enquiries led to The Academy Brand needing to call carrier companies directly to investigate the whereabouts of missing parcels, meaning a large amount of time spent on hold waiting for an answer.
- Customer leakage: Customer complaints around deliveries often came too late for the business to act on, impacting meaningful relationships with customers.
Simplified tracking and delivery support
The Academy Brand ships all online orders to customers using Shippit’s approved carrier network. The retailer is now in control of the end-to-end delivery experience for their customers, leaving nothing to chance.
Key improvements
- Simplified tracking: Shippit provides consistent updates across all carriers and shares live, up to the minute tracking information with both the customer and the retailer. SMS and email notifications ensure customers are informed at every key stage, reducing their anxiety and the need for them to search for important information.
- Proactive delivery management: Thanks to Shippit’s automated Delivery Support System, The Academy Brand is now informed of problematic deliveries before their customers even notice. Rather than waiting on hold – Shippit proactively solves issues on behalf of the retailer and keeps them updated.
- Experience ratings and feedback: At the end of each delivery Shippit asks recipients to rate their experience – its either ‘Good’ or ‘So, So’ there’s no in between. This data is used to improve the service provided by carriers and also helps The Academy Brand in understanding what customers really thought about their end-to-end shopping experience.
Results
After making the switch to Shippit, The Academy Brand experienced:
- A 90% reduction in time spent handling inbound queries and almost eliminating complaints due to shipping
- A satisfaction rating of 99.1%, resulting in increased customer retention as a result of enhanced tracking and support
- A 9% reduction in domestic shipping costs after switching from a previous multi-carrier shipping arrangement
"I really love this service. It means we can grow our online sales without having to deal with increases in customer complaints or queries – that makes my job a whole lot easier."
Bec Clark, eCommerce Manager
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