Investing in your B2B or B2C eCommerce company’s shipping strategy has never been so important. Providing a good delivery experience can drive additional revenue, help build a loyal customer base, improve the customer experience (CX) and much more.

With the competitive nature of modern business continuing to increase in every single industry, and most organizations now offering the same, or very similar products, it’s now essential that you stand out from the crowd with a superior CX.

High-quality customer experience is about delighting your customer at every step of their buying journey, and your shipping strategy plays a crucial role in how they will perceive your brand.

A great delivery experience will create happier customers, which will, in turn, help build brand loyalty, increase profits, help reach a new audience through word-of-mouth marketing, leave customers delighted as well as many more benefits.

Here, Freightcom has curated 15 eCommerce shipping statistics that emphasize why today’s successful online businesses are putting a high-quality shipping program at the core of their strategic planning:

Why an effective shipping strategy is crucial to the success of your business:

1. 60% of consumers will buy their goods from one online retailer over another if they offer more convenient delivery options (Metapack).

2. A high-quality delivery experience can transform one-time buyers into loyal customers who make more than 25 online purchases with your company each year (Canada Post).

3. 58 per cent of consumers are willing to spend more on companies that provide excellent customer service, which includes your delivery service (American Express).

4. By 2021, it’s estimated that global B2C eCommerce sales will exceed $4.5 trillion, almost double the $2.3 trillion in 2018. Global B2B eCommerce sales will increase from $7.7 trillion in 2018 to $17.6 trillion in the same time period (Shopify).

5. For eCommerce retailers, the average cost to fulfil an order is 70% of the average order value (efulfilment service).

The importance of delivery speed:

6. Offering a three-day paid shipping will meet or exceed expectations for only 60% of online shoppers, while the other 40% will expect one or two-day shipping if they have paid for it (Canada Post).

7. 38% of online shoppers will abandon their order if the delivery will take longer than a week (Milo).

8. 14% will abandon shopping with a retailer altogether if they receive a late delivery just one time (Voxware).

9. 54% of US consumers under the age of 25 said that same-day shipping is their number one purchase driver (Walker Sands).

10. 53% of US online shoppers won’t purchase a product if they don’t know when it will arrive (Narvar).

Why a good return policy is essential:

11. Consumers make $642.6 billion worth in returns per year, with US shoppers alone contributing $221.7 billion to that number (OrderDynamics).

12. 88% of online shoppers review a retailer’s return policy, and 67% of those checked the policy details before ever making a purchase (UPS Pulse).

13. Over 60% of returns are due to shipping errors (Huffington Post).

14. 60% of 18-25 year olds said that a negative returns experience had resulted in them not shopping with a retailer again (Rebound).

15. 83% of people actively read a merchant’s return policy before making a purchase, while 71% admit that a shipping or restocking fee can prevent them from buying. Not only that, but 80% of people expect free returns - but only 25% of eCommerce merchants offer free shipping (Return Magic).

Despite the importance of your eCommerce store’s shipping strategy, many organizations are still struggling with inefficient and manual order fulfilment processes.

Many companies are wasting time and money with their eCommerce shipping processes, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Freightcom, for example, offers a fully-automated shipping platform that will completely revolutionize your company’s existing shipping processes and allow you to offer a superior customer experience.

Want to learn more? Contact our team of experts today who are on hand to answer any questions you may have about shipping to Canada, the US or worldwide.