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Online shopping has boomed during the pandemic. What was a convenient alternative to physically walking into a store became necessary. The huge demand rapidly increased the revenue generated by eCommerce platforms, but there was also a problem.
Businesses struggled to deliver items to their customers on time in this massive demand. However, not meeting the delivery date can spell disaster for businesses.
For the customer, the Magento 2 estimated delivery date is just another piece of information that they see on the checkout page. But for companies, accurately predicting and then meeting this date becomes essential.
A lot can happen when it comes to delivering a product on time. An item may have to be shipped from a warehouse located in a different state or country.
Then the product has to travel by bus, train or even by air to reach the customer safely. Despite everything, meeting the delivery deadline is essential for companies to forge long-lasting relationships with clients.
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What Does the Estimated Delivery Date Mean?
Delivery dates are the estimated dates within which a customer can expect the delivery of a product they have ordered from an eCommerce platform. The Magento 2 expected delivery date displayed on a website helps businesses plan and schedule deliveries.
The Magento 2 delivery estimate depends on many factors, like the preferred shipment method, transit time, distance, etc. This date is different from the shipment date, which indicates when an item is being dispatched from the warehouse.
How Estimated Delivery Dates Work?
There are a lot of factors that decide the Magento 2 estimated delivery date. Shipping the product from the warehouse and delivering it to the customer’s doorstep is a complex process that involves a lot of factors.
The estimated delivery date for Magento 2 depends on the manufacturers, carriers, distributors, and many other factors. Weekends, holidays, and unfavourable weather conditions can delay delivery time.
Faulty communications between the people involved in the shipment and delivery might delay delivery, as can delay in transportation. Established and well-known carriers like UPS and DHL usually provide customers with a reliable delivery date.
Why you Should Display Estimated Delivery Dates to Your Customers
- It drives impulse purchases: The one major factor differentiating online shopping from shopping in person is convenience. It is much more convenient to shop from the comfort of your home than physically walking into a store.
Having an exact and concrete delivery date often drives customers to impulse buy things. The certainty offered by a set delivery date drives customers to purchase an item rapidly, and this means more sales for the company.
- Forging customer trust: Communicating with the customer is a critical aspect of any business’s success. When you communicate with the customer, you show them that you value their time.
Having a fixed delivery date shows that you care about the customer’s needs. By communicating with the customer about their product’s shipment, you indicate that you are a reliable company that values the customer’s time.
- Preservation of the company’s resources: Accurately calculating the estimated delivery date is very complicated since it already has so many stakes at play.
It requires resources, tools, large-scale logistical planning, and AI and machine learning to predict a delivery date accurately. This might seem like a hassle, and companies may opt for a more straightforward system like the ‘shipping speed’ chart.
But in the long run, this might harm the company’s prospects, and the company might lose customers. When packages are not delivered on time, customers will cancel orders, stop shopping from your platform, and move on to your competitors’ websites.
What Benefits Do Customers have from Displaying the Estimated Delivery Date?
Customers can benefit from a definite delivery date when they require vital items delivered to their doorstep, like medicines. Having a rough idea of how much time it might take to provide a package will help customers plan when to place an order before they run out of a product.
If the customer has plans to be out during weekends or has a business trip coming up, he can plan accordingly when to place the order so that he is at home when it is delivered. This will be possible only if there is a delivery date given.
Customers can also select the best online retailer based on their delivery estimates and whether they deliver products within that time frame. Meeting delivery deadlines shows whether a company values its customers.
Customers can thus decide which companies are deserving of their time and money and which ones can go for a pass, based on whether they deliver products on time.
Summing It Up!
Several Magento 2 estimated delivery date extensions available in the market can be used on your Magento eCommerce website. With these extensions, customers can choose the desired delivery date according to their convenience. Customers will also receive a notification before their package is delivered.
If you are an eCommerce platform, accurately calculating a delivery date and then delivering the package on time is essential for your business’s success. Thus, investing in technologies that let you do that is a brilliant idea.
Read more: The Benefits & Importance of Integrated Currency Switcher for WooCommerce?
