Making sure that your customer deliveries are as rapid as possible is one of the most key aspects of a business which sells products online.
This is an age of instant gratification, and if your deliveries take too long to arrive, your customers will either become frustrated or forget all about the product – and therefore your brand.
Unless you are shipping overseas, there is simply no excuse for a tardy delivery service. A failure to provide a fast service speaks dividends about the professionalism of your company, the number of products it sells and its regard for customers.
Therefore, you need to focus on increasing the speed of deliveries as much as possible. You can do this by improving the organization of your warehouse, design faster delivery routes and ensure your suppliers are getting your materials or products to you fast enough.
This is how to increase the speed of customer deliveries for your online business:
Improve the organizational efficiency of your warehouse
If you are using a warehouse to store your products in, then you can start by improving the organizational integrity of your processes. You may find that there is a certain cog in the machine that isn’t working properly – whether it is a faulty piece of equipment, a badly laid out warehouse space or an underperforming employee.
Your warehouse is where your stock will be situated, so you should be avoiding delivery delays by ensuring your warehouse is organized correctly.
Start by placing a manager inside the warehouse, to watch what the daily routine looks like. They can also ask members of staff whether there are any glaring problems. It may be an easy fix, so start with the basics.
Plan routes which include multiple stops
Another way to increase the speed of customer deliveries is to overhaul your delivery route system. While individual routes will depend entirely on the individual customer addresses, you should endeavor to find a way to integrate as many different stops as possible into a single delivery run.
It may be that you outsource your deliveries to another company. If this is the case, bring up the issue of slow deliveries to them, and ask if there is anything they can do to change it. If not, it may be time to switch to another provider.
Ensure your suppliers get materials or goods to you faster
Of course, the delivery itself may not be the issue. If you are having your products supplied to you by an exterior company or manufacturing plant, then they might be slow in getting stock to you.
If this is the case, it demands a similar approach to your courier service. Have strong words with the company about why there are delays, and whether a change in manufacturing methods would speed up the process.
By doing this, you will iron out any problems and ensure the whole supply and delivery chain is as streamlined as it can be.
Indeed, eventually, you may want to bring all these processes inboard, manufacturing your own products and delivering them yourself. This way, you have full control over the speed of your deliveries.
