Carrier experience as a differentiator — why the delivery provider matters to your consumer

Carriers, or the delivery service provider assigned to dispatch ecommerce orders, have long been seen as a mere logistical detail in the overall shopping experience. But as consumers become savvier and more conscious online shoppers, they are looking for a journey that aligns with their values at every stage. If your carrier experience doesn’t match up to your consumers’ needs, you could be losing them.

Ecommerce delivery software provider Metapack recently conducted research into the post-purchase experience, which is everything that happens between when a customer clicks “buy” and receives their order. Metapack surveyed 3,000 consumers in Europe, and 88% say a range of delivery options is important to the quality of their experience. Of these, 39.3% say it’s very important.

What’s more, 70.2% of shoppers say they notice the carrier assigned to deliver their order and that it has an impact on their experience. Of these, 19.3% say the carrier assigned has a strong impact. This is exactly why Metapack integrates with over 350 carriers representing a range of value propositions to appeal to different consumers in different regions.

Carriers for eco-friendly consumers

Homerr is a carrier that has tapped into the desire for sustainable and innovative delivery, allowing consumers in the Netherlands and Belgium to collect and return parcels through gig economy pickup and service point locations.

Here’s what Homerr have to say about its carrier experience.

“The growth of online orders is putting pressure on last-mile capacity (the last part of the transport, often from the depot to the final delivery address). This creates more delivery vans and crowded streets. Since 2016, Homerr has been investing in innovative solutions to make last mile delivery more efficient and sustainable.

By using existing routes and solely making use of parcel points it can save up to 79% CO2 emissions per parcel. Together with local shops and neighbors, we make sending and returning online purchases easier and more sustainable, all while contributing to social cohesion. Last year alone we were able to save up to 621 tons of CO2 emissions — the equivalent of 31,000 trees a year. By involving neighborhoods and reducing the CO2 emissions rather than compensating them, we aim to make ecommerce greener and more social.

The collaboration with Homerr reduces travel distance to drop-off points for Dutch and Belgian consumers and contributes to reducing CO2 emissions from return shipments. Thanks to Homerr, consumers will pick up, receive, or return packages absolutely hassle free.”

Carriers for tech-savvy consumers

Zedify, on the other hand, is a carrier that has harnessed smart technology to get parcels to urban consumers in the UK within the most efficient timeframes while maintaining sustainability, innovation, and customer experience.

We asked Zedify about their cargo bike courier service.

“Zedify’s fleet is 95% cargo bikes which operate from a network of micro hubs across 10 UK cities, with 8 more locations opening this year. Their same-day, next-day and ‘greenday’ deliveries save 92% of carbon emissions per kilometer compared with using electric vehicles (EVs).

However, EVs still represent a small chunk of the UK's combined van fleets. Each diesel van on the road typically emits over 16 kilograms of CO2 per day, so switching to a zero-tailpipe emission model brings big cumulative savings for hitting net zero goals.

Zedify’s model utilizes smart technology to optimally consolidate parcels headed to the same neighborhood. Plus, cargo bike deliveries have been proven to be 60% faster than vans (EV or not) in cities, so parcels get to the doorstep without delays to stay within promised time windows.

Retailers might have been wondering how they can tap into the growing trend for urban cargo bike deliveries without having to break away from their plug-and-play integrations — now they don’t have to wonder any more. It’s as simple as using any other carrier at their disposal. Instead of a diesel van pulling up outside their shoppers’ homes, it’s a stylish, fast, clean cargo bike — the kind of last mile delivery that’s fit for the future.”

To learn more, download the full report, Post-purchase experience: The customer loyalty blind spot.

Metapack is the leading provider of ecommerce delivery management technology to retailers and brands. The Metapack extension for Magento provides API integration to two Metapack products (delivery options and delivery manager), aligning your front-end delivery promise with your fulfillment operations to ensure you only present accurate shipping options to consumers.

This is a partnership post and was written by the Metapack content team.