by You will agree with me when I say that on-time delivery to customers is critical. In fact, it may be one of the deciding factors in increasing your sales. As a result, you must include an increase in on-time delivery as one of your supply chain strategies.
Why?
Because after a bad shopping experience, 80% of customers say they will never buy a product from the same company again. This includes delays in receiving their ordered products.
This fact should serve as a warning to you that only good on-time delivery performance is insufficient. It has to be better than that.
I believe you are the same. Do you want to buy from the same company after a bad shopping experience? I certainly don’t want to.
And on-time delivery is closely related to customer satisfaction and the benefits you can achieve.
Increasing your on time delivery will have a direct impact on your sales level.
Increased on-time delivery will make your customers happy, your operations more efficient, and you may even gain new customers.
Why is this so?
Because, in today’s digital age, it’s likely that your prospective customers will first learn about you and read testimonials from your existing customers. You did it as well, didn’t you?
Whereas if they say nice things about you and are pleased with the goods they purchased from you, it will give you a good rating in the eyes of your new potential customers.
What steps can you take to improve customer satisfaction?
As I previously stated, one of the most direct effects is the timeliness of your delivery. As a result, take the necessary steps to improve your on-time delivery performance.
Table of Contents
7 methods for increasing your company’s on-time delivery
Make use of the local warehouse
When it comes to e-commerce sites, the majority of them ship their products to and from all over the region.
They have such a large market reach.
And the issue with the broad market is ensuring on-time delivery of your goods to your customers.
Reduce delivery times by taking advantage of local warehouses located in a variety of locations throughout the region. Ensure that you have a warehouse in the most strategic location of your various sales areas.
Why?
Of course, so that you can serve multiple locations at the same time by utilizing the same warehouse.
Choose the location that has the greatest impact on your sales volume.
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Maintain a realistic set of deadlines
You should take careful note of this.
Never make unrealistic delivery promises to your customers.
You might do this if you don’t want to lose customers and want to increase your sales volume. But that is not the way to go about it.
Never put your customer’s trust in jeopardy. They will be disappointed if you are unable to meet the deadline or if the deadline is repeatedly revised.
Set realistic deadlines and strive to meet them in any way you can.
On the other hand, don’t be too permissive with deadlines. It may also cause you to lose customers.
They will look to your competitors who can deliver the same item more quickly.
Isn’t it true that everyone prefers responsive sellers?
Also, keep in mind that your loss may provide an advantage to your competitors. They will take advantage of your carelessness.
There is a fine line between unrealistic and flexible delivery schedules. Take the middle option.
How can you tell if the delivery schedule you’ve developed is feasible or not?
This is the stage at which you must assess the efficiency of your supply chain. Make the necessary changes to your delivery schedule.
But don’t stop trying to improve the efficiency of your supply chain. You compete with your competitors for customer satisfaction.
Maintain positive relationships with your third-party logistics partners
Those of you who use 3PL services to send your products to customers will also need to consider the efficiency of your 3PL services.
Make certain that you are working with a reputable third-party logistics provider. Which can meet your and your customers’ expectations?
Maintain your good relationship with them once you’ve found them. Make timely payments because the issue can be critical to the continuation of your collaboration.
You can also assist them by assisting them in improving their operational efficiency. Participate in joint improvement projects that benefit both parties.
Furthermore, make certain that you provide them with accurate and complete information. It will assist them in delivering your products on time to your customers.
Keep track of your inventory
Consider the following scenario. Perhaps you’ve had a similar experience.
Consider the following scenario: you have a product that you sell online.
People are eager to purchase your product. They pre-ordered and paid for it.
Then all you have to do is promise to deliver the product on time.
However, as you prepare to make a delivery, you discover that the product is no longer in stock.
Yes, it was discovered that you had sold it previously.
Is it harmful?
Those of you who have been through it will understand how it feels.
Regardless of how you explain it to your customers, it will have an impact on their trust in you.
They will be dissatisfied and will most likely never buy from you again. Worse, they will write a testimonial about how dissatisfied they were with the goods they purchased from you.
So, how do you avoid such situations?
What you need to do is double-check that the stock read in the system and your actual inventory conditions are in sync.
You must ensure that your team is extremely disciplined in recording every movement of goods.
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- 5 Factors Contributing to Supply Chain Failure
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Predicting demand for production
Some items will sell for a higher price than others. Certainly. Some products will fare better than others.
Furthermore, demand for certain goods will be higher in some areas but not in others.
Each product has a distinct market.
What are you going to do with it?
Examine your sales data. You will understand what products are required in each sales area.
If you want to maximize your sales potential, you must pay close attention to this.
Based on this data, you can begin to stock a sufficient number of relevant items in each sales area. Certain products are suited to specific sales channels.
Collaboration with a dependable 3PL
If you’re having trouble sorting and packing orders, you can outsource the task to 3PL.
You can outsource a portion or the entirety of your order fulfillment process.
It’s just that you need to make sure your company can still maintain its reputation for on-time delivery to your customers.
Of course, in order to obtain that, you must first ensure that you are working with a reputable 3PL.
Using 3PL services can reduce your overall transportation costs in addition to ensuring on-time delivery performance.
Transportation costs are decreasing, and on-time delivery is being maintained. What else is missing, you say?
Real-time order tracking
What do today’s customers want?
They want to know the status of their online purchases in real time.
You can tell your customers where their ordered goods are and when they will arrive at their location.
It demonstrates to your customers that you are doing your job and not delaying their orders.
You can use dependable order management software to assist you with this.
The software can assist both sellers and buyers in tracking the status of their orders and ensuring that they arrive on time.
Conclusion
One of the most important KPIs in supply chain management is on-time delivery because it is directly related to customer satisfaction.
As a result, you must ensure that your on-time delivery is maintained and even improved from time to time.
You must ensure that you pay close attention to this single KPI. Because satisfied customers are the foundation of your company’s ability to survive and grow.
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