Are fast deliveries here to stay?
Gone are the days of waiting a week or more for your delivery to arrive. Instead, streamlined fulfillment procedures and new technology like artificial intelligence and drones drastically reduce the time it takes to receive a package. While we’ll (hopefully) never again need to revert to the days of the Pony Express, can the carriers sustain this new speedy shipping model? What can you do if UPS or FedEx fails to deliver on time? We’ll share up-to-date information on the latest delivery timeframes and how to get refunds when the carriers don’t fulfill their service guarantees.
An obsession with instant
As a culture, we’ve grown used to the near-instant gratification of same-day deliveries. Studies show that 80% of shoppers want same-day deliveries, with more than a quarter abandoning their cart if the option is unavailable. And for some, same-day isn’t fast enough. 61% want their deliveries to arrive within a 1-3 hour window.
Lucky for shoppers, we’re experiencing the fastest delivery times we’ve seen in years. In Project 44’s May State of Transportation- Last Mile report, they shared that while April 2021 brought shipping times of 5.8 days and April 2022 saw shipping times of 5.6 days, April 2023 averaged only 4 days from order to delivery. That’s a 31% decrease in shipping times in just two years. The average for the final week in April was only 3.8 days— a 46% decrease from the first week in 2021.
Can the carriers keep up?
Despite the expedited shipping timeframes, the amount of on-time deliveries is waning. In April 2022, the carriers achieved on-time deliveries nearly 84% of the time. Compare that to April 2023, when the number dipped to just above 80%. How can deliveries be both faster and late at the same time? As customers demand faster shipping, the shippers offer services they cannot fulfill with accuracy. This failure to deliver on time led to nearly 25% of all carrier complaints being delay-related.
Making a complaint about delays is one way to handle the situation. However, at ShipRx, we prefer to help our clients secure monetary compensation for those delays.
How to get ready for a shipping slowdown
As FedEx and UPS feel the impact of slowing eCommerce trends, an increase in inflation, a drive toward more eco-friendly options, and pressure to compete with Amazon’s same-day delivery options, they may be unable to keep up the pace we’ve grown accustomed to.
While fast deliveries are the ideal, you can still benefit when the carriers fail to meet the promised delivery deadlines through parcel audits. ShipRx’s proprietary parcel audit software tracks over 40 factors on every shipment to identify service failures and capture refunds. Billions of dollars of refunds go unclaimed annually at FedEx and UPS because shippers don’t have the time to track every package. When you sign up with ShipRx, we’ll automate the process to ensure you get all the refunds you deserve. Signing up is fast and easy, and there’s no credit card required to get started.
If today’s fast shipping turns into tomorrow’s missed deadlines, ShipRx has you covered.
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