Improving the Customer Experience in the Age of Ecommerce

The Rise of the Digital Age

Retailers used to be able to lean on the stability of brick-and-mortar stores to provide a satisfactory customer experience.

When a customer walked into a physical store, they knew exactly what to expect and were rewarded with instant gratification and the ability to take their purchases home the same day.

Since the rise of the digital age, technology is shaping how customers purchase from retailers, and the customer experience is fundamentally different online.

According to Gartner, customer experience is defined as “the customer’s perceptions and related feelings caused by the one-off and cumulative effect of interactions with a supplier’s employees, channels, systems and products.”

At a physical store, a retailer maintains control of the overall shopping experience by training staff, creating a pleasing shopping environment and streamlining the check-out process.

With a digital store-front, retailers can only influence their customers’ experience through user-interface enhancements and supply chain improvements.

This makes supply chain operations more important than ever.

Digital shoppers are expecting more and more from their online shopping experience.

Read: The Power of Supply Chain Collaboration & Visibility

These final/last mile capabilities will help supply chains improve the end customers’ experiences:

Flexibility – Customers want the ability to choose the service type they need. Choosing the mode helps customers customize their experience.

Speed – Getting product quickly and when desired is becoming more important as 2-day delivery becomes standard. Designating when the product will arrive helps customers plan ahead and allows them to be more self-sufficient.

Tracking – Customers everywhere are demanding tracking capabilities. In order for customers to have confidence that their product has shipped and will arrive on time, a standard tracking feature needs to be implemented.

Alerts – In addition to tracking capabilities, up-to-date alerts keep customers’ expectations realistic when unforeseen events take place in the supply chain. Customers appreciate alerts to weather delays and other interruptions so that they can react proactively to late deliveries.

As e-commerce now makes up a total of 17% of all retail sales in the USA, retailers need to put their focus on improving their supply chains in order to win and retain business.

According to EFT, “Today’s connected consumers demand both choice and flexibility when it comes to receiving their online orders – and will not hesitate to move loyalty if they encounter unsatisfactory delivery options.”

In order to keep customers coming back, technology needs to be implemented to offer customers choice and tracking capabilities.

With the help of a robust transportation management system like Kuebix TMS, retailers can offer their customers this level of flexibility and control directly from their own Websites.

Find out more about how Kuebix integrates with e-commerce and quoting platforms.

Related: Supply Chain 2018 Mid-Year Analysis: What’s Happened and What’s Still to Come

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