One in four American e-commerce clients approached to participate in a survey about the reliability of time-critical deliveries have said they don’t trust the post-sales experience of high-value items such as medicine, medical supplies and travel documents.
The survey, conducted by third-party research firm YouGov on behalf of software platform manager parcelLab, released its findings in a report called Mission Critical Deliveries Report which points to a general desire for much-improved service delivery.
This is despite previous notions that the level of trust in the e-commerce space is quite good.
Helen Atkinson of freight industry think tank Supply Chain Brain (SCB) says: “While two-thirds (66%) of respondents generally do trust that time-critical or high-importance items will be delivered by a specific time, one in four (25%) do not.
“Nevertheless, several circumstances have made US consumers reluctant to order these items for home delivery.
“Some 32% would be reluctant to order again following a failed delivery or negative ordering experience, and 29% would be reluctant to order items for a special occasion when the item has to arrive by a specific date or time.”
Furthermore, 28% of the survey’s respondents indicated that they might not bother finding a replacement item if the wrong thing was dispatched or not at all.
ParcelLab said this created the impression that there was a worrying lack of trust in brands to respond prudently if what was offered online was either unavailable or if an incorrect item was sent.
Atkinson writes that “the report highlights the fact that delivery can make or break the customer experience.
“Nearly one-third (30%) of consumers reported that negative reviews or comments around a supplier’s delivery service would be a reason for not ordering time-critical or high-importance items for home delivery
“That said, in the last three years alone, 37% experienced an average of two to five late or lost deliveries of those items, and in the last two years, 27% have had those types of packages left at the wrong address, 30% were left unprotected or in the rain, and nearly one in four (24%) was delivered in a damaged state.”
In such instances, 48% of people blamed carriers, while only 26% looked a little deeper, attempting to find out whether the problem wasn’t perhaps on the supply end.
SCB also highlighted that in instances of flawed delivery, more than a third of respondents said they wouldn’t order from the suppliers again.
Almost half would approach the platform provider to complain, whereas 39% would go directly to the courier company tasked with delivery.
In worst-case scenarios, 19% of responders said they would actively warn friends and family against dealing with the same supplier, whereas 27% would avoid having to deal with the same courier company again.
