The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Retailers offering perks for patience on deliveries
CHICAGO — Shoppers clicking “buy” on smartphones, tablets and laptops spent almost $20 billion online from Thanksgiving through last week’s Cyber Monday. Now retailers have to turn that spending spree into a flood of cardboard boxes on their way to shoppers’ doorsteps.
To keep up, both retailers and United Parcel Service are trying to give customers accustomed to quick deliveries a few incentives to be patient.
Cyber Monday marked the biggest day of online sales in history, with consumers shelling out $6.59 billion at the top 100 U.S. retailers, according to Adobe. The record comes with a challenge: handling a sudden surge in orders without disappointing customers who expect their packages to arrive on schedule.
Amazon for a few years has given customers in its Prime membership program, which includes two-day shipping, the option to accept slower delivery in exchange for credits to spend on videos, music or restaurant orders. But this will be the first holiday season Macy’s has offered all customers at high-volume times a similar choice, after a test in some markets last fall.
Macy’s “no hurry shipping” lets customers opt for a longer delivery time in exchange for an incentive. On Cyber Monday, customers willing to wait six to nine business days were offered Macy’s Money that could be used on future purchases, though the reward can vary, said spokeswoman Andrea Schwartz.
By Tuesday, Macy’s was no longer offering the “no hurry” option, but it will be back in the days before Christmas and other popular gift-giving holidays. That might mean packages arrive after the holiday, but some customers are buying for themselves and don’t have a hard deadline, Schwartz said.
Levi’s, meanwhile, offers economy shipping, which promises delivery within six to eight business days for $4.95, instead of the standard three to six business days for $7.50 within the continental U.S.
As stores have turned free or faster shipping into a way to compete for sales, customers’ expectations have risen. Nearly 90 percent of consumers in Chicago, for example, think “fast shipping” means delivery within two days, compared with just 53 percent in 2016, according to a survey by consultant Deloitte. But
free still beats fast, according to an overwhelming 86 percent of those surveyed by Deloitte.
For retailers, encouraging customers to wait for packages is a no-brainer, said Bobby Stephens, a senior manager in Deloitte Digital’s retail practice. As the holiday shopping season stretches earlier and earlier into November, most consumers don’t actually need orders to arrive right away. Spreading them out lessens the impact on a retailer’s supply chain, and offering a store credit could encourage another purchase, he said.
“I think the incentive ends up being worth it to not have to deal with the customer service ramifications of not delivering on time,” he said.
It also could help retailers avoid extra costs that one major package shipper added to help cope with the surging volume of packages.