The global pandemic has caused supply chain disruptions and issues that have slowed down the flow of products and services across numerous industries.
These problems, which are caused by a multitude of causes like natural disasters, ongoing Covid outbreaks, container limitations, and labour shortages, go much deeper than what retailers, eCommerce brands, and shipping businesses can independently handle.
The 2021 Holiday Season broke records despite price inflation and supply chain bottlenecks. The holiday shopping season began earlier than ever before, and over $36 billion was spent online during Cyber Week alone, or 17% of the entire season.
It is becoming increasingly crucial for businesses to inform a market of ardent buyers about potential shipment, delivery, and stock updates due to the ripple effects of a broken supply chain and a frenzied holiday shopping mindset during crucial months.
Beyond the holiday season, being open with customers about delivery delays and other fulfilment problems may safeguard your brand’s reputation, stop revenue loss, and foster customer loyalty even in the face of unforeseen events. Here are some tried-and-true suggestions for handling supply chain problems without losing clients.
- Be open and honest about inventory and shipment delays on your website.
Your company most certainly won’t be able to avoid the shipping and inventory delays you’re going to experience given the size of this year’s supply chain problems. Transport delays, offshore industrial disruptions, and clogged ports are all challenging puzzle pieces. One in four customers said they were “extremely anxious” this year about stockouts and shipment delays over the holiday season.
Prepare to be as outspoken and open as you can during the entire message process and the purchasing process in order to allay the concerns of your customers. Before customers make a purchase, be up front about projected inventory limitations and shipment delays, starting with your website. Forecasted delays should be mentioned on your website in numerous locations, including the header, product detail pages, the checkout process, and web push notifications.
It is crucial to explicitly and promptly inform your clients about any delays since you want to ensure that they have a reasonable expectation of when their orders will arrive. Being truthful is preferable to making overpromising and underdelivering. For instance, Salesforce advises brands to “communicate clearly and regularly” with customers to stay ahead of rising margin and pricing pressure. Apply the same strategy to your order updates.
Although it’s not ideal to be in this scenario, your customers will appreciate your company more for providing accurate information during a difficult moment. This will increase long-term brand loyalty and trust.
- Inform customers of shipping deadlines
You should convey shipment deadlines through a variety of media if your goal is to keep customers happy throughout this year’s digital buying experience. It can be effective to alert your consumers of important shipping deadlines, such as when to place an order for it to arrive on or before Christmas, using channels including web push notifications, SMS, and mobile push notifications. By letting them know about the pertinent deadlines and time restrictions they must adhere to, you may reduce your customers’ stress and assist them in making plans. Think about distributing the “Shop Early” message across several platforms.
Given that this makes it tougher for your clients to miss a crucial deadline, reaching out via many channels and at various times is a sensible move.
- Use low inventory notifications to create a sense of urgency and encourage return purchases.
Send users information about low inventory levels via timely channels like mobile push and SMS. Since consumers gain from seeing and acting on these time-sensitive updates immediately, these real-time channels are perfect for them.
Low inventories are not just plausible, but also anticipated, given the serious warehousing and manufacturing challenges. Certain product categories invariably go out of stock due to the surge in demand for items of all types, particularly fashion, sporting goods, baby products, and technology. As a result, businesses require a plan for informing customers about these shortages. The number of out-of-stock notices has increased by 172% from the pre-pandemic period. Due to this, it is advised that you have a strategy in place for disseminating low inventory (and out-of-stock) alerts.
Your clients will be appreciative to learn that the item or things they indicated interest in are running out given the unpredictable nature of many supply chains. As inventory decreases, it becomes sense to automate and trigger these alerts. When your inventory falls below a critical level, your low inventory updates will be activated.
Low inventory notifications are a typical illustration of how the scarcity principle works to encourage a sense of urgency when making a transaction, which subconsciously encourages customers to make the purchase.
- Inform clients when a beloved item is back in stock.
It’s sometimes unavoidable for an item to sell out. Four to five times as many out-of-stock product warnings were displayed in 2021’s digital commerce as there were in prior years.
When a consumer indicates interest in an out-of-stock product (through, for example, their browsing activity), you should make a plan to re-target them with a “back-in-stock update” as soon as you have the product in stock again. Customers can be encouraged to sign up for these alerts and given the option to share their email or phone number in order to receive notifications when it becomes accessible.
Be sure to include a call-to-action, clear content, and the relevant link to return to the desired product page in your back-in-stock message. Make an effort to design a seamless path to purchase. You can also add some scarcity wording to these alerts, like “[item name] is back in stock, don’t wait for it to run out again!”
By alleviating the disappointment associated with out-of-stock messaging and recouping lost income for your business, back-in-stock messaging turns a negative into a positive for both you and your customers. Your back-in-stock communications should be automated and triggered so customers can easily re-engage and make their intended purchase.
- Give real-time updates on order delivery.
Even when the news is less than favourable, keeping your customers informed throughout the whole buyer’s journey—from pre-purchase to post-purchase to delivery—contributes to brand trust and improves your reputation.
Send order confirmations, shipment notifications, stopped order alarms, and delivery success notifications. You can also include language in your order confirmation letters alerting customers to potential shipping delays.
Automate your updates about shipping delays on one or more channels whenever you can. Send an email, SMS, or push notification to alert others of bottlenecks, delays, and lost objects (This, of course, depends on whether your company has an order tracking system.)
Three of the goods in your order’s shipment have been delayed unexpectedly. 12/05/21 has been revised as the delivery date.
When feasible, let customers know when orders are on hold and apologise for the inconvenience. If you want to be proactive, you may even add information about the challenging shipping and fulfilment issue your business is dealing with in your confirmation emails. Again, honesty is paramount.
Knowing the status of their shipments would presumably reduce consumer concern, and it’s also a best practise in the retail and eCommerce sectors.
Don’t forget that consumers today expect to be kept in the loop after making a purchase, right up until delivery and beyond.
- Show gratitude and commend perseverance.
Given the difficulties with shipping, fulfilment, and delivery this year, it’s critical to express your appreciation for your clients’ consistent patronage and dedication.
According to studies, following a less than satisfactory customer experience, you can keep customers coming back by offering discounts, credits, and rebates on your goods and services as well as a sincere apology for any inconvenience.
In light of this, send your clients messages that reassure them of your continued appreciation for them and thank them for their patience during the extended shipment delays they are likely to encounter.
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