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Creating a Great Delivery Experience for Customers in 2024

Four essential tips for last-mile delivery companies aiming to enhance the delivery experience for their customers in 2024.

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Assume you’ve recently gone on an internet buying spree and are now eagerly awaiting the arrival of your purchases. You get a notification that it will arrive today, and you stare at the door all day, only to be told that the delivery has been cancelled because the “recipient is not at home.”

Has this happened to you before?

You can’t take your customers for granted in this day and age, when companies are spending millions on creating a great user experience. You must focus on improving the delivery experience for your customers if you run a last-mile delivery firm.

With four tips for providing a wonderful delivery experience to your consumers in 2024, this article will assist you in achieving that goal.

Table of Contents

  • Delivery Experience Tip #1: Communicate the estimated delivery date as clearly as possible
  • Delivery Experience Tip #2: Keep your customers in the loop
  • Delivery Experience Tip #3: Use optimized delivery routes
  • Delivery Experience Tip #4: Ask customers for feedback
  • Final Thoughts on Improving the Delivery Experience

Delivery Experience Tip #1: Communicate the estimated delivery date as clearly as possible

Gone are the days when you could offer a three- to four-day delivery window. Customers become irritated when you use the word “to” since they have no idea when their order will arrive.

Thanks to Amazon, customer expectations have shifted over time. Nowadays, you must specify a delivery date, such as three days, four days, or even a shorter time frame. You risk losing customers if you don’t.

According to a study of people’s buying habits in 2020, 43 percent of customers prefer next-day delivery choices. And you won’t be able to expect customers to wait indefinitely for their items if they request same-day delivery.

Instead, depending on your consumers’ location, you should provide them as accurate an expected delivery date as possible. Then, to create a great delivery experience, attempt to stick to that date as much as possible. To top it all off, you must provide a particular delivery time range to your customers. This point cannot be overstated.

Even if it’s only by a single day or hour, exceeding the delivery date or time range can lose you your clients’ trust.

As a result, make sure you specify a realistic delivery date and time frame, taking into consideration any incidents or accidents that may occur to cause delays. And, once you’ve set a date, adhere to it no matter what.

Taking into account all this delivery constraints and time windows can become very complicated very fast. That’s why a delivery route planner tool like EasyRoutes can be extremely valuable. It does all the thinking for you and outputs optimized delivery routes in seconds.

Later in this post, we’ll go over some of the additional features of delivery scheduling software that could improve the delivery experience.

Delivery Experience Tip #2: Keep your customers in the loop

Put yourself in the shoes of your customers. What do you think it’s like to wait for your orders to arrive after you’ve done your shopping online?

If you aren’t kept up to date every time you open your email or check your phone to see how much longer it will take, the enthusiasm can quickly turn to anger and disappointment. Make sure your consumers aren’t put through this ordeal.

It’s critical to deliver on time and quickly, but it’s even more critical to keep your consumers updated about their orders.

Implement a system that notifies clients about their delivery status to keep them informed. They should be notified if the status of an order’s shipment changes.

You can also create a technology solution that allows your consumers to track the status of their orders on their own. We understand that this sounds like a pricey venture. You could instead use a map route planner like EasyRoutes.

EasyRoutes is directly integrated with your Shopify orders, so when an order is marked as out for delivery, or delivered by your driver, the whole system is updated and the right customer notifications are sent in real-time. This will make your job a lot easier.

Delivery Experience Tip #3: Use optimized delivery routes

Customers expect on-time delivery, which can only be achieved if routes are well-planned and optimized.

Pen and paper won’t cut it because there’s too much guesswork involved, and you won’t be able to account for all the minor aspects, such as traffic and one-way streets, which could result in your efforts being for naught.

If you have a lot of deliveries to make, route planning will be considerably more difficult. Route planning and scheduling are simplified thanks to modern route optimization tools.

With EasyRoutes, your orders are already at your fingertips. All you have to do now is select the orders you want to route and click the “Create New Route” button! In 30 seconds, the route planner software will give you with 100 percent accurate and well-optimized routes, complete with the ability to set stops to your favourite navigation apps for turn-by-turn directions.

Delivery Experience Tip #4: Ask customers for feedback

Asking for input from the people who matter — your customers – is the best method to enhance your delivery experience.

After you fulfill an order, you may use an online feedback system or just send an email to clients asking for feedback on their delivery experience. Things like driver rating and overall satisfaction level should be included.

What matters is that you work on the feedback you hear. The first step toward applying it is to strive to improve your clients’ delivery experience.

Final Thoughts on Improving the Delivery Experience

The popularity of Internet purchasing has skyrocketed. Customers have gotten more demanding and expect higher quality services.

According to a study, 97 percent of online customers consider delivery costs to be relevant when making a purchase, while 92 percent consider shipping speed to be critical.

And, with so much competition in the market, the only way for a last-mile delivery company to thrive is to put a greater emphasis on the consumer and provide high-quality delivery experiences. As a result, they must provide better services and provide them faster at a cheaper cost.

Incorporate the four methods listed above into your delivery firm in 2024 to observe how it grows. After all, the customer is king, and treating them like such is the finest approach for any organization.

Want To See How EasyRoutes Can Increase Your Profits?

Whether you want to save time planning routes for your drivers, improve the number of stops they can make, or keep your clients happy by ensuring that your drivers arrive on schedule… EasyRoutes can help!

Get EasyRoutes route optimizer on the Shopify App Store
Get EasyRoutes route optimizer on the Shopify App Store

About Roundtrip

Roundtrip's mission is to equip every business with the software tools they need to deliver products to their customers in a delightful way. Thousands of Shopify merchants worldwide choose EasyRoutes to power their local deliveries across dozens of product categories, from meal kits and groceries to coffee, cupcakes, kibble, and so much more. Our easy-to-use route planning and delivery optimization app is certified Built for Shopify, a two-time Shopify staff pick, and the top rated local delivery app on the Shopify App Store.

"The EasyRoutes app saves us probably 40 hours per week, and I can genuinely say it would be hard to run our business without it…We plan our routes each morning with three clicks of a mouse which is a massive time saver."
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