Post Covid, home delivery became an essential need for the majority of the consumers as it provided safety and convenience. But, fulfilling the increasing number of orders wasn’t so easy for the players. To decode the nuances for brands and make the experience better, Shadowfax and RedSeer came together to launch Delivery Delight Index (DDI3). It is, a toolkit for brands and platforms that has been developed after ~10,000 consumer surveys covering 38 players across four types of platforms i.e., E-tailing Marketplaces, Hyperlocal Marketplaces, Digitally Native Brands and Traditional Brands or Retailers.
This third edition of Delivery Delight Index has unveiled how digitally native brands are providing a superlative delivery experience on the back of third-party logistics players. Besides, the report has also unveiled a number of interesting trends which will play a major role in shaping up the logistics space going forward.
1. Brands and Platforms beef up their overall delivery experience
Overall, brands have shown an improved performance in terms of speed of delivery and delivery experience from the last index wherein they have increased their scores by 17 points and 10 points respectively. This improved score is largely driven by the complete unlock during the January-March quarter 2021 and last mile innovations by platforms and logistics partners.
2. DNB platforms and E-tailing marketplace emerge as champions in DDI 3
Apart from large horizontals with captive logistics arms, new emerging brands have a high reliance on third-party logistics partners and these brands/platforms have been able to provide impeccable delivery service with the support of 3PL partners. On contrary to the second edition where a number of hyperlocal players emerged as champions, this time there is a higher concentration of DNB and E-tailing marketplace in the champions quadrant.
3. How these platforms & brands emerged as Champions in DDI 3
Besides established marketplaces with captive logistics, this index shows that a number of DNB platforms have significantly improved their delivery experience by:
- Improved speed by launching micro-warehouse in partnership with third party warehouse aggregators and providing same day or next day delivery.
- Enabled deeper integration with the logistics partners leading to reduction in refund time.
- Strategies like seamless return and refund, faster pick-up, pro-active communication to the customers
4. D2C brands’ endeavours to reduce delivery time & improve the experience
D2C brands are increasingly experimenting with various supply chain models to reduce delivery time and improve delivery experience. For instance, end-to-end outsourcing to the same partner or outsourcing warehouse and logistics to separate partners are some of the current models.
5. Platforms & brands find monetization opportunity through the emerging trend of Express Deliveries
Importance of Express Delivery/Delivery within 24 hours across Sectors
The index shows that express deliveries are gaining momentum and there is an opportunity for platforms across sectors to monetize by offering express delivery to customers which in turn will further lead to higher customer satisfaction. Further, there is high importance of express delivery with higher willingness to pay for these services in ePharma.
We are glad to see that post the last two editions of the Delivery Delight Index, many players are using this Index as a yardstick to measure the improvements around their consumer service quality. Further, a clear indicator of the utility of the index has been with the increasing number of brands who have started operationalising the inputs from the index in their delivery strategy.
Click here to compare #2 and #3 Delivery Delight Index.
