In 2016, online retailing is a pretty lucrative business, with UK shoppers expected to spend £60 billion online this year, with an average of £1,372 per person according to new studies by the Centre for Retail Research. With advances in technology, it’s easier than ever before to take advantage of the boom in online retail and start your own online business.
Whilst setting up a business is always expensive, one of the benefits of operating online is that it is easy to run your business from home, sending out your products directly from you, rather than a warehouse. However, this means that once a customer has made a purchase, it will be your responsibility to deliver the product to them.
So as a small retailer running a home based business, how do you stay ahead of the curve when it comes to shipping and logistics, and keeping your customers happy?
Whilst running an online retail business from home is a great opportunity, online retail is also a highly competitive sector. Customers are very savvy and have big expectations, not only in the quality of products, but also in terms of speedy, convenient delivery. One of the main reasons that people shop online is for convenience, so it’s essential for small online retailers to make sure the shopping experience they provide is convenient. It only takes one obstacle for consumers to change their mind about a retail decision.
Flexible delivery
It’s always advisable to provide a number of shipping options to suit each customer. Whilst some customers will be happy to wait a few days for a delivery and pay smaller delivery charges, others may want a delivery within a day or next.
As customers are becoming increasingly savvy and many live busy lives that mean they aren’t available to wait around for deliveries, it’s important to be as flexible as possible when it comes to delivery time. This means letting the customer choose a delivery window so that they can make sure they are around to receive their order.
To ensure your customers get the flexible delivery service that they are looking for, it makes a lot of sense to enlist the services of a specialist business courier company. iCollect are a business courier service that are committed to making sure there is no need for any more missed delivery cards. Part of the iCollect service is to allow your customer to specify the hours that they will be available to receive their order, so there will be no reason to specify a ‘safe place’ or leave a parcel with a neighbour.
By choosing a trusted business courier service, you will not need to worry about calls from your customer asking where their parcel is, as iCollect will inform them when their parcel is available for delivery. You will also be able to log in to the iCollect system for your own peace of mind and track the progress of the parcel after it is collected from you.
To learn more about the iCollect delivery service, call today on 01384 624 756, or to sign up your business, complete this simple online registration form.
