Shoppers want retailers to rectify delivery mistakes quickly and efficiently and to compensate them for mistakes, according to a new study.
The research, from Voxware, suggests that 28.4% of customers expect retailers to replace items shipped in error with the correct order within two days or less.
37.7% meanwhile expected compensation such as a discount, coupon or credit for errors when receiving the wrong item or when an item arrives late.
The study also showed that customers were sometimes left pulling their hair out by a retailer’s consistent mistakes with nearly one in four (24%) saying that a retailer had sent them an incorrect item for a second time after returning an item that was originally sent in error.
31.4% said they had received the right item but in the wrong size or colour and 21.5% had received the wrong item altogether.
The results also found that one in five (20%) said that they return items received from large retailers more frequently compared to purchases from small retailers.
60.3% of those who received an incorrect order twice said they are then unlikely to shop with that retailer again.
The figures come from a survey of 500 consumers, looking at their experiences and the impact of shipping incorrect orders on customer loyalty.
Nearly half (45.5%) said they were likely or very likely to share their negative experiences about a product or retailer online if a delivery was late or the wrong item was received.
“Companies that want to deliver a superior customer experience and achieve greater brand loyalty must understand the importance of both inbound and outbound distribution operations in the customer decision-making process,” said Keith Phillips, president and CEO, Voxware.
“Unfortunately, despite the overwhelming evidence that the returns process affects future buying decisions, this research exposes the gaps many companies still have in their distribution operations. By failing to close these gaps with technology solutions that deliver essential supply chain information exactly when and where it is needed, companies will continue to disappoint customers with late and incorrect orders,” he said.
The study also showed that nearly all (96.8%) of customers said that how well an online retailer handles returns influences whether they will order from them again in the future.
