The retailers with the best on-time holiday shipments were…
Retailers kept their promises this holiday season when it came to on-time, last-minute deliveries.
Overall, retailers reported 100% successfully processed and accurately delivered orders to customers on their last guaranteed shipping date before Christmas, according to the “2017 Holiday Shipping” study from Kurt Salmon, part of Accenture Strategy. The retailers that had “stellar” standard shipping for orders placed on Dec. 21 — and in the hands of their customers before Christmas — were Coach, Dillard’s, HSN, Nordstrom and Abercrombie.
The Accenture report is based on perforce among 49 retailers across a broad range of categories, including traditional big boxes, specialty retailers and online-only e-retailers.
Other findings included:
• For the first time since Kurt Salmon began measuring holiday shipping five years ago, more than 30% of retailers surveyed this year opted to not provide a ‘guaranteed’ shipping date at all.
• Retailers that did promise a guaranteed shipping date had an average cut-off date of Dec. 17, the earliest it has been since 2014.
• Retailers with late promise dates upgraded shipping to ensure success.
According to the report, retailers were more cautious around Christmas, and consequently moved the average cut-off date for standard delivery back by a day, compared to previous years to avoid customer disappointment.
“Delivering on shipping promises before Christmas is a huge challenge with enormous consequences for those that get it wrong,” Osburn said. “With online sales continuing to rise, retailers have to ensure they are operationally competent to deliver on time, they have the ability to change direction at a moment’s notice, and offer flexible delivery alternatives such as ‘buy online, pick-up in-store’, or risk letting down customers.”
Overall, retailers reported 100% successfully processed and accurately delivered orders to customers on their last guaranteed shipping date before Christmas, according to the “2017 Holiday Shipping” study from Kurt Salmon, part of Accenture Strategy. The retailers that had “stellar” standard shipping for orders placed on Dec. 21 — and in the hands of their customers before Christmas — were Coach, Dillard’s, HSN, Nordstrom and Abercrombie.
The Accenture report is based on perforce among 49 retailers across a broad range of categories, including traditional big boxes, specialty retailers and online-only e-retailers.
Other findings included:
• For the first time since Kurt Salmon began measuring holiday shipping five years ago, more than 30% of retailers surveyed this year opted to not provide a ‘guaranteed’ shipping date at all.
• Retailers that did promise a guaranteed shipping date had an average cut-off date of Dec. 17, the earliest it has been since 2014.
• Retailers with late promise dates upgraded shipping to ensure success.
According to the report, retailers were more cautious around Christmas, and consequently moved the average cut-off date for standard delivery back by a day, compared to previous years to avoid customer disappointment.
“Delivering on shipping promises before Christmas is a huge challenge with enormous consequences for those that get it wrong,” Osburn said. “With online sales continuing to rise, retailers have to ensure they are operationally competent to deliver on time, they have the ability to change direction at a moment’s notice, and offer flexible delivery alternatives such as ‘buy online, pick-up in-store’, or risk letting down customers.”