Improving eCommerce delivery to city residents
For many customers, one of the biggest pain points of shopping online is actually receiving the product. Many people lead busy lives, and often do not have the time to wait at their homes all day for the delivery man to mosey on by with their package. This can lead to further complications if the package winds up being returned to the sender and then retailers have to figure out what to do with it.
Distribution is a particular problem in big cities, where people live in multistory apartment complexes. When they leave for work, school or some other responsibility, delivery people often have few options to get them their packages. Most apartment complexes do not have doormen who can sign for packages, and simply leaving purchases on tenant doorsteps would also be a huge mistake.
Fortunately, delivery service providers are stepping in to ease the burden. For example, the United Parcel Service of North America recently announced it would be expanding its access point network, which allows customers to pickup packages at certain locations outside of business hours. This is crucial because it puts the customer back in control of the situation, Internet Retailer reported. Sure, it may not be as convenient as getting packages straight to their doorsteps, but at least they can get these items with little hassle.
Retailers could also take matters into their own hands by offering customers in-store pickup. Rather than waiting for a delivery service to give packages to them, they could just leverage the retailer itself. Merchants would need to deploy multi channel order management and fulfillment solutions to help ensure these customers be served quickly, but this service can add a lot of value to the shopping experience.