If you’re a retailer, and you are trying to accept orders through a physical store, online, at markets, pop-ups, or festivals, perhaps, you might want to bank on the idea that customers are really into fast shipping.
Considering that there are lots of retailers that actually offers free shipping and same-day delivery, there’s a high level of pressure and demand to get orders out quickly and efficiently that is really visible.
So, when the time comes that sales are rapidly increasing and orders are on hold due to some unwanted circumstances, try to get your senses and do these four (4) tried-and-tested methods to fulfill your must-fulfilled tasks to your consumers:
Get Some Perfect People for a Perfect Position
The first thing you might want to play your focus on is with your staff. Perhaps, you have to check if you are properly staffed to keep a good customer service, to manage the inflow of shoppers, and to focus entirely on shipping.
A retail consultant and Senior Partner at McMillanDoolittle, Mara Devitt, says that it’s vital that companies lend a concrete attention to the trends with regard to their line of business.
“What does that mean regarding your workflow on the customer satisfaction side and product flow in and out?” she says. “You don’t want to be overstaffed at the wrong time.”
Communication is a Must
I bet, you have to check if you are excelling in this aspect because if there’s something that would test your capability of being succession during your busy season, it’s communication.
With regard to staff, that does mean that you have to discuss the to-dos for today and about key promotions in store and online.
In line with that, Devitt says, “take time throughout the day to celebrate good ideas and successes… It really keeps employees focused and engaged.”
It would also be a good scheme if you are keeping up with your suppliers and vendors. Get in touch and keep them posted when you forestall gaps in product stock or perhaps, a quite idle response time. They are playing a vital role in your gameplay, so keeping them posted would also keep you on track to your success.
And, of course, you can’t pull out the most important people in the picture which we call “customers.” Keeping up with your customers [directly]—especially when you anticipate that there would be delays—would actually create in them a heart of a loyal customer.
Give Solutions to Problems Even Before They Happen
“It’s so important to organize your team to deal with exceptions,” says Devitt.
Putting your mind on issues like productivity and producing solutions even before that pop-up within your staff would actually turn your busy time into a smoother one.
“Take a hard look at the customer journey and make sure you’re handling them well. Do you dedicate a specific team to returns? Do you have the right staff and resources for in-store returns? Many companies forget about the impact this has on frontline [employees]”.
If there is one thing that would surely cost you both time and money, it is Fraud. LexisNexis states that the average number of ecommerce monthly fraud attempts amounted to 33% just between 2015 and 2016.
Incorporating a fraud protection tool to your site is a helpful scheme—most especially for new staff who actually don’t know where to put their vantage point.
#Cliche: Learn from your Mistakes
Make it a practice that every time your launch, promotion, or holiday rush ends, have a comprehensive discussion with your team with regard to the things that worked well and those which didn’t and how you can actually apply this the learning you obtained from such in your next gameplay.
For a good reference, Mara Devitt gave this example: “After one busy season, Best Buy noticed a higher number of returns on certain TV models that were showing up cracked. They solved the problem by sending them out double boxed.”