What Does It Take to Provide Estimated Delivery Dates in eCommerce

Introduction

Even until a few years ago, estimated delivery dates (EDD) used to be an optional feature provided by a handful of ecommerce merchants. But today’s shoppers get discouraged and tend to abandon their carts if they don’t see an EDD. This shift in consumer behavior has obviously led online businesses to prioritize EDDs in their product display and checkout pages. 

However, only displaying an EDD is not enough; brands must also be able to fulfill them. While not offering delivery projections hurt sales, providing inaccurate EDDs deals a severe blow to brand image, customer loyalty, and retention. 

The lesson to be learned therefore is not only to offer EDDs but to provide accurate ones. Below, we’ll discuss why predicting delivery dates is harder than we imagine and how businesses can use their resources to correctly forecast EDDs. 

What are Estimated Delivery Dates and What Makes Them Crucial for Ecommerce Businesses

Estimated Delivery Date or Estimated Date of Arrival (ETA) is a fixed date or date range that informs customers when they can expect their orders. Customers can find out their EDD by entering the area pin code or zip code. It also lets shoppers know whether a product can be delivered to their location. Shipping softwares that can correctly predict delivery dates takes into account many metrics like carrier performance, serviceable regions, shipping modes, etc. 

According to buyer psychology, consumers tend to view a brand as more transparent if they show estimated delivery dates. EDD, therefore, is a must-have for improved add-to-cart rates, impulse purchases, and customer satisfaction. Moreover, brands providing EDD see a remarkable reduction in failed deliveries, returns, and customer drop-off rates. EDDs have become crucial in guaranteeing a great customer experience. 

6 Things Every Ecommerce Merchant Needs to Provide Accurate EDDs

The accuracy of EDDs depends on a lot of factors, some of which are external and beyond our control but the rest can be calculated to an extent. However, the difficulty of always providing the right EDD lies in its continuously changing variables. We’ve compiled a list of at least 9 things every retailer needs to offer realistic EDDs. 

1) Centralised Inventory

As we said above, a lot goes behind correctly estimating EDDs and the topmost one is of course product availability. Insufficient inventory results in either longer waiting periods or delayed deliveries.

To provide accurate EDDs, brands need an inventory management software that updates SKU statuses in real time. The absence of proper inventory management leads to fluctuating and incorrect EDDs.

2) Order Processing Duration

An automated order manifestation process pushes the order to dispatch as soon as product availability is confirmed.

This leg of the order journey is made up of several small parts like payment verification, scanning, pick and pack, AWB or shipping label printing, etc. The entire order processing sequence can be automated to reduce manual errors and shorten EDD durations. 

Estimated dates of arrival can vary greatly depending on the type of business. For example, Made to Order (MTO) businesses will have longer processing times than dropshippers or retailers that store inventory. Therefore, the EDD software must take that under consideration to forecast accurate delivery dates and times.

3) Carrier Integrations

Ecommerce sellers having access to numerous shipping carriers can offer faster EDDs to their customers owing to a variety of shipping services. Apart from various modes of shipping like same-day/next-day, hyperlocal, guaranteed delivery, etc., more carriers also mean better reach. For example, FedEx and UPS offer 24-hour international delivery whereas USPS and Aramex don’t. Therefore, the type of shipping carriers you use greatly affects your estimated delivery dates.

4) Predictive Analytics and GPS Tracking

Many intelligent shipping softwares that provide accurate estimated delivery dates make use of historical shipping data to predict delivery patterns. Data analytics and artificial intelligence help businesses continuously learn from past mistakes to improve shipping times and thereby EDD accuracy. 

Similarly, GPS tracking allows brands to pinpoint where the shipment is in real time and update their EDDs accordingly. In a lot of cases, GPS can override AI and ML-assisted analytics based on live ground data like traffic jams, bad weather, etc.

5) Visibility of Environmental Factors

In continuation to the point above, EDDs can fluctuate depending on weather conditions. An EDD software must be able to harness the data from a route mapping software or GPS tracking device to quickly revise estimated delivery dates. It must also convey the same to customers through messages and emails. 

6) API Integrations

API integrations help carriers communicate the latest order status updates with customers and businesses. In case of delays, the last shipment status is shared immediately to revise the estimated delivery date.

However, the time required to update this information varies between shipping softwares. Faster APIs take anywhere from 15 to 60 minutes while slower ones can take upto 24 to 48 hours to refresh the data. Therefore, the speed of an API is a big contributing factor to the accuracy of estimated delivery dates. 

Factors Affecting E Commerce Estimated Delivery Dates 

We’ve discussed the crucial elements of providing accurate delivery dates. Now, let’s look at some factors that influence estimated delivery dates.

1) Shipping Services

Many ecommerce companies and marketplaces offer various shipping modes like ‘standard delivery,’ ‘express shipping,’ ‘same day delivery,’ etc. All these shipping options have different EDDs depending on how fast the courier company can realistically fulfill the order. The carrier, delivery location, and the type of shipping service selected, all play a big part in deciding the final EDD.

2) Shipping and Delivery Exceptions

Shipping and delivery exceptions are events in which an order is delayed either in the pre-shipping stage or in transit.

Exceptions can occur due to many reasons like customer unavailability, wrong address, payment discrepancy, and more. Since shipping or delivery exceptions take place once an order has been placed, they can push the original EDD to a later date. 

3) Public Holidays and National Events

Although EDD softwares should calculate delivery dates by taking public holidays into account, that’s not always the case. Therefore, such holidays can mess up the decided EDD. Elections, mass rallies, or supply chain disruptions can also adversely affect estimated delivery dates. 

4) Customs Clearance

International shipments without proper documentation, incorrect addresses, and inappropriate order value declaration can get delayed and thereby affect EDDs. Packages carrying prohibited items are likely to get shipped back or confiscated by customs officers and may never reach their customers. 

5) Lead Times

Lead times in ecommerce refer to the time taken by a shipper or ecommerce company to make a product ready for shipping. This can be the time it takes to manufacture, distribute, or process items and shipments.

You may have seen the product page of many ecommerce websites clearly displaying how long it will take to ship that product. This duration is the order processing time and is usually longer for products with higher lead times. In this way, lead times directly influence the estimated date of delivery.

Nurturing a Happy Customer Experience with ClickPost

ClickPost’s EDD module uses ML-based data logic to display accurate promised delivery dates on the product display and checkout pages. It aims to offer an excellent customer experience with a fully customisable EDD panel. 

Customers are immediately notified of any change in their EDDs. In fact, the estimated delivery date is displayed on the branded tracking page itself. Over 350 global brands have seen a remarkable improvement in successful deliveries, customer drop-off rates, and customer loyalty since they started using ClickPost’s EDD feature. 

Conclusion

Offering accurate estimated delivery dates is directly proportional to customer satisfaction, trust, and repeat purchases. It helps lower returns and cart abandonment rates. If you want to present correct EDDs to your customers every single time you must pay attention to the components that make EDD projection possible. We hope our discussion helps you ace EDDs and win over customers!

FAQs

1) How can ecommerce companies provide their customers with accurate EDDs?

Ecommerce companies must partner with a multi carrier shipping software equipped to analyze parameters like past carrier data, serviceability, product availability, and much more to provide an accurate EDD. Additionally, the software must be able to quickly update EDDs based on the latest shipment status.

2) Can EDDs change after an order has been shipped?

Yes, EDDs can fluctuate after an order has been shipped. This is mainly due to shipping and delivery delays. Shipping softwares with an EDD functionality can alert customers about possible delays and help reduce dissatisfaction, and WISMO (Where is my order) calls.