Almost a year ago, I began to publish a series of articles on how to make an online store good for both the buyer and the seller. Some (good) family circumstances greatly reduced my free time last spring, and therefore the continuation that some patient readers sincerely waited for is only now appearing. Today is the eighth step out of eleven. Delivery. One of the most important, because you can stumble on it painfully (both literally and figuratively speaking).

Perhaps, these articles did not catch your eye before, because then they hit the Megamozg website, which was then successfully reunited with the main Habr. I would be glad if you look with fresh eyes: something in Russian online stores has changed for the better over the year.

Articles are designed for those who own or operate an online store, but can be curious and the developer, as the developer can affect the quality of how the business process of the store.
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Good attitude nice and kitty. Photos from murlika.msk.ru

Here is what we have already discussed before.

→ Meet expectations.
→ Make the site simple.
→ Display current stock.
→ Allow customers to pay by card.
→ Segment offer.
→ Offer the related products.
→ Communicate with the client only in the case.

Step 8. Deliver on time

One of the main tips that constantly pops up in any topic of conversation about an online store is “meet expectations!” It was not by chance that he was the topic of the very first article .

Once I urgently needed a radiator heater - a detail without which all modern cars in the winter turn into a pumpkin frozen from within, in which it is very unpleasant to drive even on a sunny but frosty day. Since I was lucky to own a car in which this detail turned out to be a weak point, at the same time dozens of people wanted to buy it, and in the official service the radiators ran out before I called there.

However, I was lucky: on the website laf24.ru I found the right one with delivery not only in a month (15000 ₽), but in a week (18000 ₽), and in three days (20000 ₽), and even in two days (21000 ₽) . It was an urgent matter, and just three days were the maximum time for me - then I had to go somewhere urgently. Fearing to buy goods without time, I decided to risk an extra thousand rubles and to be safe - I ordered the radiator that came with delivery in 2 days.

Do you think in 2 days I was brought a radiator? Nothing like this! Do you think I ordered it, and did not worry about the order? It would seem that! I called the store immediately after ordering (I didn’t receive a confirmation, and I asked if they would bring it on time, and they told me yes), on the day of the proposed delivery (everything is valid? They are brought? When they bring it, the courier doesn’t call ? How is it not being transported? How was it delayed?), And the next day (Colleagues, what are you? What does it mean "the car did not come"? And why was the delivery time on the website written?). By the night of the third day the order arrived, but I no longer had the time and effort to sue them for a thousand rubles.

What conclusion did I draw from this case as a client? Simple: I will go to this store again only if there is no other way. The next time I bought parts already exist.ru, and there I was not deceived in time.

What conclusions can be drawn from this by someone who has his own online store? For example, such:

1. Shipping faster than standard, you can successfully trade. Yes, it is trivial. Yes, ebay has been doing it for ten years. But do you personally - are doing on your site? And all the shops where you buy - too?
2. The word must be kept.

How to keep a word

The important point: the buyer does not care how you do it. You may have a contract with competitors, with partners, with a taxi, with ten courier services, with an insurance company, with a devil in a mortar, and even with Baba Yaga, however, if you "did not get a car", then there must be a way to find another the car that will take from the first that is in it, and will arrive to the client.

Quite often, the courier and postal services have such a safety net, and if you have a contract with them, then you can count on them. Of course, you have to build relationships with courier companies as your business grows, but this is a normal process, right?

But please remember: the buyer needs the goods on time. Explanations, apologies, even gifts with apologies - the buyer needs all this much less than the goods delivered on time. Therefore, the “terms of service”, the draconian rules, which stipulate that the store is not responsible for anything, the legally verified contract of the offer upon purchase - all this is a means of protection from the buyer, and not a means of delivery on time. And the buyer needs the goods on time, and nothing more.

How to correct the situation?

It happens that the store fail partners. For example, once I ordered tea with delivery to the point of issue, where I was going to pay for it with a card. The point was a block away from my office, and it was easy to pick up tea from there right away, and not wait for a day's home delivery. However, as soon as I arrived at the point, they told me that the card payment terminal did not work there anymore. I didn’t have cash with me, and there was also an ATM nearby.

What to do? I called the online store, irritably explained the situation, and was pleasantly surprised by the decision: the store manager offered a courier visit with tea and a mobile payment terminal to my home, not tomorrow, but that evening.

Yes, it cost the store the courier's arrival price. The following year, the store earned me ten times more: I realized that it refers to customers humanly, and became a regular customer.

In many similar cases, other stores could not remedy the situation so successfully: there is not always the technical ability to quickly send a courier with a similar product to a new address, the dispatcher does not always have the necessary authority for such a decision, etc.

However, how to potentially solve such problems, everyone who owns or operates an online store should think. Good attitude is pleasant not only for cats, but also for buyers.

How to help the buyer to choose the appropriate delivery method?

A good way is to have your own reliable delivery service, and with the possibility of choosing an additional service for money - delivery on a specific day in a two-hour interval, delivery on weekends, delivery at night, delivery to a suburb, etc. A good example of such a decision is Ozon.

What if your small business can't pull its service? It's okay, you can pick up an excellent external service. Recently, I began to love DPD - the recipient of their order can, without contacting the store, change the address, date and time of delivery, and the SMS from the delivery service itself tells about it.

If you can order delivery by different services from you - write on the website, what is the difference between them. It is worth writing right next to the name of the service where the buyer makes the choice. Then everyone will choose what is more convenient for him.

Get rid of stereotypes

Everyone is accustomed to the fact that the Russian Post is expensive and time consuming. However, recently, for example, it turned out that a small parcel or letter from St. Petersburg to Helsinki, even on New Year's holidays, is only 10 days in Russian Post. And there is such a shipment of one or two hundred rubles, which is quite acceptable, given that 3-4 euros abroad is a very low delivery price.

So for delivery abroad in some cases it is justified to use the Post of Russia.

Other stereotypes (and even own bumps stuffed with their own experience) are subject to quarterly review, as the situation on the delivery market changes frequently.

What to do if delivered late?

Apologize. Give gifts. Look at the situation only from the perspective of the client.

The main trouble with delivery is not in time - the fact that the order could be made to a specific point, after which it is no longer needed: birthday, departure for a business trip, visit of guests. You understand that if the pizza ordered for dinner arrived only in the morning, there is little chance that it will be expected.

On such delays, it is really possible to lose both reputation and money (at least on credit card returns, as the bank or payment system will take its 2-3% per transaction for both the transfer to you and the return transfer when returning money).

How does a store lose money on delivery at the wrong time?

Once the Applesell store sold me a gadget with a delivery of 5 days. And on the fifth day, it turned out that the store manager had forgotten to send it. There was a scandal, the store owners tried to hush it up, ended with the fact that I received the ordered and a gift in compensation, but with a delay of 10 days.

Why did this happen? The store had excellent delivery of goods in Moscow, but the store was advertised throughout Russia (I found it by searching Yandex.) Delivery to other cities was a by-product; there was no person who was responsible only for it. The one who was engaged in my order had neither experience, nor understanding, than delivery to another city differs from local delivery.

On late delivery it is easy to lose a lot of time and money: both time, telephone calls, and a frantic search for partners to remedy the situation, and gifts that you have to apologize to an angry customer who has completed a dozen negative reviews on Yandex.Market, VK, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Habr.

Reliable delivery recipe on time

What is it to do to always deliver orders on time?

1) Promise only what you can exactly do. There is a chance that on the day of order you can not bring the goods? Write - "delivery the next day."
2) Do exactly what you promised. Sometimes delivery a day earlier than promised - also a problem for the client, he may be on a business trip or just busy. People are waiting for you to bring the goods when promised, and not before, and not after that.
3) Always write to the buyer about the problems before he himself guessed. The sooner you warn him about the delay, the less will be his loss and your damage.

And - very important - remember: “on time” does not mean “quickly.” “In time” means exactly when promised to the client.

If you also have the ability to postpone the delivery time, as with DPD, this is generally wonderful! By the way, did you notice how DPD is gaining sympathy? After all, it is possible to agree with the dispatcher about the transfer of the date, time and even the place of delivery for a long time with DHL, FedEx, and, I am sure, with other world-wide courier services! But only DPD writes about this to customers in sms with confirmation of delivery time. Use the idea of ​​health: now you know how you can become a little more attractive than others in the eyes of the client.