The challenge of delivery on customer experience and expectation is getting tougher than ever, according to those speaking at The Delivery Conference this week.
Opening the conference on Tuesday Patrick Wall, CEO and founder of Metapack, said that retailers and their delivery partners faced a number of challenges – including “peak getting more peaky”.
“That’s a strain on capabilities but it’s where the market is,” he said. However he said retailers performed well in 2016, even in peak periods. “The market was delivering. The whole operation was working to an extremely high standard and we can be pleased there are hundreds of millions of customers who are trusting in the services we provide,” he said.
Cross-border trade continues to grow, said Wall although he warned delegates to beware of the impact of Brexit and of potentially having to manage customs and duties within Europe. “It is an inhibitor to trade so one of the key messages is we have to have a concerted voice within ecommerce to influence the regulation to allow ecommerce to operate within a borderless fashion,” he said.
Retailers need to manage and invest in their customers to survive, he said with personalisation vital. He said there had to be collaboration between retailers and brands and 3pls and all delivery partners to enable personalisation to better understand individual customer needs.
The move of the industry from closed to open systems is helping, said Wall, citing a number of recent initiatives where retailers and delivery partners are opening up previously closed arrangements such as Asda’s ToYou service and CollectPlus’ recent announcement that it would open up its services to other players. “This level of collaboration is needed in order to respond to the increasingly individual needs of consumers,” said Wall.
Image credit: Metapack/The Delivery Conference
