Automated Enterprise Shipping Creates a Better Customer Experience
Posted by Rachel Rodenborg on Wed, Sep 21, 2011 @ 03:41 AM
A quick true/false quiz:
True or false: Anything that improves a customer's experience with your company is a good thing.
True.
Right!
True or false: Customers like to wonder where their shipment is.
False.
Correct!
True or false: It's fun for your customer to call your customer service department to find out the status of an order.
False.
Right again! (You're a smart one, I see!)
Okay, final question.
True or false: Your enterprise shipping department is leveraging the power of complete shipping automation.
(chirp, chirp)
You're enterprise shipping department is fully automated, right?
Er, ...
The Case For Automation
Okay, so I recently got an email from a locally owned shoe store where I like to shop offering me a $50 gift card for $25 in support of a local charity. (Daily deal, anyone?) Since I was planning on buying some new shoes there anyway, the offer was a no-brainer for me. Needless to say, I waited for the deal to become available and then I successfully ordered my gift card.
At least I think I did.
I got a confirmation email with an order number and it looks like the $25 has pulled from my checking account, but what I don't know for sure is if the card has shipped yet or when I can expect to receive it.
A minor detail, I suppose, but I would really like to know when the card will ship so that I can plan when I'm going to buy my shoes. It's actually more than a little frustrating to me--it's not the $25 amount, it's the not knowing what's going on.
The Take Away For Enterprise Shipping Professionals
So, what does my shopping experience have to do with you? Automated communication from the shipping department (and the ecommerce store) would have greatly improved my buying experience.
Automating your shipping function will improve the customer's experience with your company. Notifications sent out immediately upon shipment will ensure that your customer never has to guess about the status of their order. If the shipment is going to be delayed for some reason, an automated email notifying the customer could go a long way to preserve how the customer thinks and feels about your company. Automated notification of shipment will definitely save your customer the hassle of calling in for an answer to the question, "Where's my order?"
To learn more about how to revolutionize your enterprise shipping function, watch the on-demand webinar, Seeing (Shipping) is Believing!
