While our team members Dana and Dennis were exhibiting at New Retail’19 in Melbourne, our CEO Arne Jeroschewski was over in London and Berlin speaking with our Europe-based customers. He also took the opportunity to visit the 10th edition of The Delivery Conference (TDC) in London.

As one of Europe’s largest and eminent conferences for the e-commerce industry, it attracted over 1,400 attendees - with a majority of carriers and leading brands represented. We saw presentations and in-depth discussions on timely topics like e-commerce delivery, market trends and much more from industry leaders like Google, Alibaba, Amazon, and eBay.

Missed the conference? We’ve compiled some of our personal highlights from The Delivery Conference 2019 in this article.

The recipe to boost customer loyalty - summarised in a single slide.

The real key to growing your retail business in 2019 is focusing on your delivery experience

Unsurprisingly, delivery experience was one of the main factors influencing the overall customer experience. The benefit of delivery loyalty programmes - a service where consumers pay a premium fee to secure unlimited, priority delivery was discussed throughout the conference.

It’s clear how brands handle the post-purchase delivery experience has a tremendous impact on customer experience. Recent research uncovered the following:

• 65% of consumers expressed interest in a delivery loyalty programme

• 49% of consumers would prioritize one online e-commerce provider over another if they offered such a programme

• 25% of shoppers plan to join a delivery loyalty programme in the coming 12 months

• 19% were willing to pay a monthly fee to guarantee unlimited next-day delivery (ala Amazon Prime)

Returns management is a key priority for all e-commerce players

As we’ve covered before, your return policy and how you manage the process is crucial for customer experience management. Shoppers now prioritize shops with a convenient, easy-to-follow returns policy.

Some statistics shows the extent of your return policy’s influence.

• 41% of consumers purchase multiple products with the intention to return some or all of them

• 42% find it difficult to find information about returns on an e-commerce site

• 35% of consumers frequently check your returns policy before buying something

• 56% of shoppers were deterred from shopping by a shop’s return’s policy

The takeaway for retailers here is clear: pay attention to how your return policy is worded and executed. Manage the delicate balance between managing the added costs of returns versus meeting customer expectations around a stellar returns experience.

The future of retail - bringing a digital experience in-store and appealing to emotions

In his entertaining session, retail futurist Howard Saunders presented a short history of brick and mortar retailers along technology prompting the evolution of the customer experience. Retail stores will focus on becoming more experiential places; with more attention and care shown towards stimulating senses in-store with innovative designs concepts.

Some examples of spectacular omnichannel experiences Howard mentioned:

• Nike’s innovation hub: Opened in November 2018, this sprawls across 68,000 square feet and six levels and is designed to be “as personal and responsive as a digital experience, powered by digital e-commerce data”.

• Starbucks pop-up concept stores in New York: Featuring various seating areas, in-store retail, and other premium additions, this concept appeals to the senses through its unusual design and comprehensive in-store experiences.

Key takeaway: It’s now easy for consumers to “get stuff”. What they prize are receiving emotions, being taken on an experiential journey. To stay ahead, retailers can now think of ways to appeal to the five senses, seamlessly integrating in-store and digital experiences into one, cohesive journey.

Lots of e-commerce and delivery insights to unpack here at The Delivery Conference!

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