I’m still constantly surprised at delivery speeds that some eBay sellers think are acceptable. Five years ago there was nothing wrong with offering a delivery experience which meant a purchase would take a week or so to arrive, in fact many companies at that time had a standard delivery option of 28 days (and some major retailers still do!).
This is the year 2012 though and consumers have been accustomed to fast delivery and will become less tolerant of slow deliveries as time goes on. Next day delivery is pretty much the norm for eCommerce today and with companies like Amazon routinely delivering the following morning that’s what consumers expect of us. Next, the clothing retailer, offer delivery the following day for orders placed as late in the evening as 9pm Sunday – Friday. The only reason they don’t offer the same service on Saturdays is that their courier doesn’t deliver on Sundays.
Delivery expectations won’t stop at a next day service either, I’ve been reading about Shutl who aim to up the delivery speed to same day and in some cases delivery within 90 minutes of placing your order. That’s only likely to be achievable for large companies and within cities, but it will place even great pressure on eBay sellers to at least delivery the next working day. Shutl also aim to offer a one hour delivery window either the same day or next day so that you don’t have to wait at home all day waiting for your purchase to arrive.
Some couriers such as Interlink already supply an expected time slot during which your delivery will arrive and again offer a next day service.
There’s nothing wrong with offering a money saving slower delivery experience, but if you don’t also offer a speedy delivery option don’t be surprised if you face increasing pressures on your eBay Detailed Seller Ratings and feedback. Whether they need it or not buyers are expecting to receive their goods within 24 hours. If you’re not offering this service why not?
15 Responses
I only send 2nd class, and have done for 3 years, with no option to upgrade as paypal don’t tell you on the transaction detail page which service the buyer has opted for, just the price, I can’t remember the postage options on 200 listings,
So you have to copy & paste the item number into ebay because Paypal have removed the clickable link on the item description, then go to postage & payments tab to check which service they have taken,
I say post within 2 days, but I always post next day and most items only take 3 days, so most buyers get their item in 2 days, as I posted 1 day early,
If you miss one by accident surely you would risk bad feedback if you send an item 2nd class instead of the 1st class they paid for,
I sell stuff at 50% of retail so I think buyers are getting a bargain and should have to wait a little bit longer as we are on tighter margins than big companies who employ packing staff and expensive computer systems.
Why would it reduce our DSR’s. I think you are forgetting that the DSR is for despatch time not delivery time 😉
I always post Second Class, except for replacement/lost items, and always within one working day. This is clearly stated in my adverts and, for domestic postage, it’s free P&P. Most of my domestic packages arrive within one day of posting, even from Devon where I live. I have had no complaints, (yet!), but your points are well taken. However for free P&P, especially with the recent postage hikes, I consider this to be a good service and my feedback from buyers seem to reflect this.
Chris, I’m afraid that I think you are perpetuating a myth here. I don’t think Next day delivery is pretty much the norm for eCommerce. I think most customers are happy to wait a few days most of the time but like to have an option for a more speedy service available.
It would be interesting to see a brake down of Amazon customers: How many go for super saver. how many go 1st class (the default) and how many upgrade to an express service (who aren’t prime subscribers).
For me the key is communication. Give your customers realistic expectations and meet them.
I always use 2nd class and for reasons only knownn to me (told to me by our local office) it always seems to get there in 1st class time.
Next day service – That would be courier service or RM Nextday by 3pm service.
Both cost a certain amount of cash, would an ebay customer pay this as standard – me thinks not.
Customers want too much nowdays and its got silly.
Dont see anything wrong with waiting upto a week, if you want your goods in a hurry, pop down to your local high street or retail park.
Also order goods well before you need them, dont leave things to last min and then have a go at the retailer coz you screwed up and forgot.
I know times are changing but people need to get real.
One of the other things that rarely get’s a mention is Packing.
Fine, many companies deal in Manufactured boxed items & all they have to do is slap a label on the box & onto a courier van… dead easy, Job Done.
Others, like us, have to packet an item from scratch, hence there is the difference.
It takes longer if you have to actually pack an item.
This type of service will benefit companies with a large network of stores (giving them an advantage over the pure mail order companies with centralised fulfilment centres).
I find it odd that most of the shops available to me are fashion retailers as customers are more likely to want to try on the clothes before buying (by the nature of the service there must be a store somewhere nearby so a visit would be possible).
I can see Maplin being useful for some businesses in emergency situations (and if Screwfix or Toolstation joined they would also be well used).
From the retailers perspective it is risk free as the couriers are only employed if there is a delivery.