Customers are expecting more control than ever, as well as a fast and flawless delivery experience, according to Accenture’s Brody Buhler, who spoke at The Delivery Conference last week.
He also examined the huge impact he believes that technologies such as AI and increased data analytics will have on delivery as retailers and their delivery partners get product closer to the customer than ever.
But retailers and their delivery partners themselves are also getting closer. Also speaking at the conference was MetaPack’s Patrick Wall who said retailers, brands, 3PLs and delivery partners had to collaborate in order to better personalise the experience for customers.
The customer experience is fundamental. Our opinion piece this week is courtesy of Kurt Salmon and follows research that they did recently to understand how delivery times were faring – particularly at peak. Take a look at the results and see how you did in comparison.
Hoping to improve the returns experience for customers is both Royal Mail and Asda toYou. Both have announced they are to launch new instore returns solutions that will enable customers to print labels out instore or at a customer service point from a QR enabled email. Irish delivery firm An Post is also launching a new returns solution at the end of this quarter that it says will transform the returns experience for customers.
Returns really is the new battleground for retailers and is something that retailers have to concentrate on. It will also be the focus on one of the sessions in the second day of eDelivery Expo this April. Jonathan Gorst, senior lecturer from Sheffield Hallam University, will be delivering a presentation on why retailers need to work harder on their returns on 6 April as part of the Operational Excellence conference. Find out who else you can see at the Operational Excellence conference at eDelivery Expo in our latest conference preview piece.
And finally we have news about a new partnership between fashion retailer Missguided and Kerry Logistics.
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