by Tom Shackleton
After launching their “Your DPD” app back in May, the delivery company has now taken another step towards truly personalised delivery. Their latest partnership with fashion store ASOS, allows customers to select an hourly delivery slot for their order. Once again, customer expectations are being stretched in a market now moving at a blistering pace.
After launching their “Your DPD” app back in May, the delivery company has now taken another step towards truly personalised delivery. Their latest partnership with fashion store ASOS, allows customers to select an hourly delivery slot for their order. Once again, customer expectations are being stretched in a market now moving at a blistering pace.
ASOS customers have long since received notifications on the morning of their delivery, advising them of an hourly slot. With DPD Precise, there will now be an option to reject the allocated slot and select your own. Any time between 11am & 5pm over the preceding 7 days will be open, granting shoppers more control over their online orders than ever before.
- Matt Rogers, for ASOS commented;
"Precise is another first for ASOS and a huge leap forward on our customer focused delivery proposition. Our customers love getting their deliveries quickly and tell us they want control and choice over how and when their parcels arrive. Precise gives them exactly that.”
What Does This Mean for Retailers?
Without a doubt, this represents a challenge to other online retailers, particularly smaller ones, who can’t benefit from large logistics deals like ASOS can. All retailers who sell online will have to start thinking about how they can counteract the allure of quick and convenient delivery services like DPD precise and Amazon Prime Now.
Retailers with brick & mortar stores have the unique advantage of being able to use the shopping experience to convince customers to use services such as click & collect. But all online retailers need to think about how they can add value to their store, make the user experience as personal as possible and convince customers that they are able to offer better quality and exclusivity, both in their product and customer service.
Customers are growing to expect greater convenience when shopping online, and the trend is gathering momentum incredibly quickly. Large retailers like Amazon see delivery as one of the few remaining barriers to the uptake of online shopping, and are doing everything they can to remove it. Possibly to the detriment of the eCommerce industry as a whole?
What’s Next?
It will certainly be interesting to see where the trend for quicker, cheaper and smoother delivery takes us next. Same day and flexible delivery services may work well for large retailers, but independents will struggle to handle the costs. The days of 3–5 day delivery as standard could be heading for the past, and the gap between eCommerce giants and everyone else, looks like widening further.
Are you an independent eCommerce retailer? How are you planning to respond to the recent developments in delivery? Get in touch with us on Facebook or Twitter and let us know.
