Marketers want to know about any factor that transforms a customer into a loyal brand advocate.
Well, one thing marketers can take heed of centers on delivery time. This goes a long way toward building and retaining customer loyalty.
According to a Shopatron Consumer Survey, 87% of orders delivered in five days or less makes for a loyal customer enthusiast. This new data positively links the relationship between shipping time and a customer’s likelihood to become a brand advocate.
Shopatron, a global leading provider of cloud-based distributed order management solutions, conducted a satisfaction survey of more than 13,000 customers on how shipping times relate to Net Promoter Scores (NPS®).
The NPS scoring system assigns shoppers into three categories: Promoters, passives, and detractors. The analysis found that 87% of orders delivered by a retailer or brand in five days or less resulted in a promoter. As a promoter, a customer is more likely to be a repeat buyer, brand evangelist, and refer more customers via word of mouth marketing. Conversely, the survey found the percentage of promoters dropped to 66% if an order was delivered in more than five days.
To gain deeper survey insights, Shopatron analyzed more than 28,000 customer satisfaction results and found that shipments fulfilled directly by the brand were, on average, significantly slower and shipped from further distances than shipments fulfilled by a retail partner.
“The results of these customer satisfaction surveys all indicate that shipments fulfilled directly by a brand can be significantly slower than shipments fulfilled by a retail fulfillment partner, and these slower shipping times have a direct impact on customer satisfaction,” said Ed Stevens, founder and CEO of Shopatron. “Retailers and brands should consider partnering with a dealer network and utilizing retail storefronts, in addition to their own warehouses and distribution centers. It will allow retailers and brands to significantly cut down on shipping distances to their customers, which will ultimately reduce shipping times and increase the number of promoters for their organization.”
The survey says that by partnering with their dealer networks, brands can:
Reduce shipping times by 20% using ship-from-store capabilities
Enable in-store pick up at retail fulfillment locations
Utilize retailer expertise in direct-to-consumer fulfillment