Retailers are putting too much emphasis on delivery and missing the fact that it’s fulfilment that is often not up to scratch and causing a poor customer experience, says Glossybox UK and Ireland’s head of operations and customer care Wioletta Bogus.
Bogus, who has worked across a range of retail sectors including fashion, says that the industry and retailers themselves are focusing too much on delivery. “We are always as an industry saying that the problem is delivery but actually in many companies the bigger problem is fulfilment. But if you don’t give the customers what they order or give them something faulty then they won’t be happy.”
“What’s important is to have spot-on fulfilment in the 3PL. If the customers are getting exactly what they want then delivery is secondary,” she says.
She says too often retailers just blame couriers when often the problem stems from a rogue employee. “People just like to blame couriers but it’s not such a problem – it’s just about the person delivering it and whether they can be bothered or not bothered,” she says.
Bogus says she sees a number of trends emerging in the market including customer pick-up points becoming even more popular as customers turn away from options such as delivery to neighbour. “We have people that say don’t leave with a neighbour – they want to be in control of delivery. Also gaining momentum is things like Collect Plus as well as the lockers. That is really growing,” she says.
However, the likes of robots and drones have some way to go in terms of disrupting the market, she says. “I don’t think it’s something that will shape or disrupt the market in 2017 but maybe in 2027,” she says.
Catch more of Wioletta Bogus’ thoughts about the industry in the Final Mile: Same-Day, Next-Day, Nominated Day & Time Slots panel discussion at 3pm at the Final Mile conference at the eDelivery Expo, running 5-6 April at the NEC, Birmingham. To find out more about the show and register for free, visit www.edeliveryexpo.com.
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