Stay in the loop
Subscribe to receive the latest email news and updates from Shippit
Peak season sales are both a blessing and a curse for business owners. A retailer’s fulfilment strategy during this time needs to be up to speed to deal with the sales and revenue generated during the peak season to keep businesses in good stead, as many businesses get swamped with inbound customer enquiries, complaints and questions about their orders and deliveries.
26% of customers consider customer support a deal-breaker, so even when businesses are being stretched to the max, customers still expect to be treated with a high standard of service. On top of that, during the holiday season sales, most businesses experience a staggering 75% increase in customer service enquiries.
So how can we keep the peak season party going without placing added strain on our customer service teams and fulfilment centres?
Book orders after you’ve picked and packed everything
One of the biggest customer support enquiries we get in the Shippit office is about cancelling and re-ordering orders that weren’t ready when the courier arrived to pick them up.
We get it. When it gets busy, and you really need your courier to come, it’s easy to think: “I’ll just book the courier now and pick and pack everything in half an hour.”
The problem with this is that unexpected things pop up and distract us from getting everything ready before the courier arrives. Maybe it takes you longer than expected to pick and pack, or perhaps you run out of shipping labels. You never know!
To avoid added fees from your courier and disappointing your customers, be sure to pick and pack your orders before you book your courier. Learn more about how to streamline your fulfilment for periods of high demand and beyond.
Pack every order safely, and securely
Many businesses struggle during the peak season to keep up with surging order volumes during peak season. Most websites experience 63% more traffic during November to February compared to the rest of the year, so we often find ourselves unprepared for a sudden rise in sales.
When this happens, it becomes really easy to cut corners in the way we pack deliveries for our customers. But this is one of the biggest no-nos for a growing eCommerce business.
If a customer receives a badly damaged item due to poor packaging, they’ll expect a replacement.
Over 20% of deliveries are returned because they’ve been damaged in transit. But if you pack your items safely and securely, you’ll save yourself 20% in returns and 20% of the cost in shipping and inventory by not needing to send a replacement. Check out Shippit's Transit Protection to protect your deliveries against loss or damage.
Ask your customers for authority to leave their deliveries in a safe place
‘Authority to leave’ is a rising trend in eCommerce as more and more people shop online, but aren’t able to stay home when their shipment arrives.
When you ask your customers for the authority to leave their package in a safe place, it’s not only a great option for your customer, but it also reduces re-delivery fees for failed delivery attempts.
Not all customers will opt for an authority to leave if they don’t have a safe and secure place to leave the package.
But some customers love to have this as an option as it reduces stress and anxiety when awaiting a delivery. It’s also convenient if they work most days of the week and find it bothersome to collect their parcel at the post office after a failed delivery.
Know where to go for delivery investigations
Today’s eCommerce logistics landscape is complex. Some of us use third-party logistics providers, some use our own accounts with couriers, some use a multi-carrier solution and some use their own fleet.
Let’s clear the air on where to go you for each instance so you can spend less time running around, and more time getting to the bottom of your customer enquiries:
If you use a 3PL (3rd Party Logistics)
All 3PL’s are different, and they have different policies around the way they manage shipping. Be sure to talk with your 3PL on their expectations and procedures during peak season.
If you use your own courier accounts
Go directly to your courier’s customer service team. Ensure you have all the information on hand, including your consignment and customer details. Many couriers like Couriers Please can’t investigate an enquiry without a consignment number, so be sure to have all the information you need on hand to save time.
If you use a multi-carrier shipping platform
Most multi-carrier shipping providers have their own accounts with couriers because they’re also to negotiate cheaper rates with the volume they offer service providers.
If you book orders through a multi-carrier shipping platform such as Shippit, be sure to contact your platform straight away for customer service enquiries.
Shippit offers round the clock support for customer delivery enquiries, so if you feel like you’re not ready for the holiday rush, get in touch with our team today.
If you use your own fleet
If you are running and managing your own fleet, make sure to set up robust procedures and equip your customer services team with as much information and data as possible to anticipate bottlenecks during peak demand. With a solution like Shippit NowGo you have the benefit of managing your own fleet and third-party carriers from a single place, and you can minimise your delivery queries by giving customers accurate ETAs and an Uber-like experience for delivery updates.
Check your tracking updates before you panic
If we begin to see a lot of customer enquiries about late deliveries, it becomes very easy to panic and contact your courier straight away.
But if you keep on top of your tracking notifications, there should be no reason to panic unless there are some serious delays.
Tracking updates are updated when couriers scan your shipping label at different stages of the delivery process. When your deliveries are first picked up, that first scanning event means that the package is in transit, and when a customer signs and receives their delivery, the final scanning event marks the parcel as delivered.
If a customer enquiries about their delivery, be sure to check the delivery status before contacting your courier.
If you use a platform like Shippit, you can track and keep on top of deliveries for all couriers in one place. You can also filter orders to see their different stages and which deliveries are late. Find out more about our tracking features here.
Key takeaways
No matter how busy you are during peak season, remember that there are no shortcuts to customer service in order to delight and retain your customers this peak season and beyond.
Luckily, there are ways to maintain high customer service standards even during the busiest sales period of the year. Learn about how to deliver when it matters most.
