As same-day delivery becomes more widely available, ecommerce brands are under increased pressure to achieve rapid delivery timeframes for customer orders. By 2027, the same-day delivery market is forecast to hit $26.4 billion in value.
However, this puts ecommerce businesses in a tough position; not offering rapid delivery timeframes can jeopardize customer acquisition and retention. But making expedited delivery a standard option can mean massively eroding your profit margins, making business growth difficult. So what’s the answer?
Fortunately, there is a delivery strategy that helps to achieve rapid speeds while optimizing for cost: It’s called unscheduled delivery.
What is an unscheduled delivery service?
Unscheduled delivery is a type of delivery method in ecommerce where a business delivers an order to the customer without a set delivery schedule. While the brand guarantees delivery within a certain timeframe i.e. the same day or the next day, an unscheduled delivery means that there isn’t an estimated timeslot for the shipment. This offers both customers and brands a lot more flexibility in shipping and receiving orders, as neither party is constrained by strict delivery slots that increase cost or inconvenience.
How does unscheduled delivery work?
When a customer places an online order, the business will need to meet a particular shipping cut-off time to guarantee delivery by a specific date or time. The faster the delivery method, the faster the order fulfillment process needs to be. So, if a customer has chosen a same-day delivery slot, this requires an extremely streamlined pick, pack, and ship workflow which is highly labor-intensive to coordinate.
But with unscheduled deliveries, ecommerce businesses have more wiggle room. When an order is placed, shipping and delivery timeframes can be calculated dynamically based on factors like customer location, carrier options, and delivery capacity. This makes it possible to get an order straight to the customer in the most cost-effective timeframe while still achieving the speed promised i.e. same-day or the next day. This could involve ‘batching’ that order along with other deliveries due in the same timeframe or using dynamic routing to ensure the fastest or most traffic-free route to delivering orders.
Why it’s worth exploring unscheduled delivery
Offer customers more flexibility
While same-day delivery offers customers the advantage of getting online orders delivered fast, the flipside is that this often leaves a very small window for successful delivery. Some businesses will require consumers to select a specific time slot to ensure they are home to receive the package, which may not always be possible or convenient for customers to stick with. This can either result in a failed delivery or needing to reschedule delivery for a different day, which adds friction to the customer experience.
An unscheduled delivery service provides more flexibility by guaranteeing a timeframe i.e. same-day, next-day, or two-day delivery, but without a particular time of day required for drop-off. This means that customers don’t need to drop everything to be at home to receive the package, and still benefit from an expedited delivery service.
Give your operation more leeway
One of the biggest benefits of unscheduled delivery for ecommerce businesses is that they don’t have to balance delivering orders to multiple delivery windows at once. Instead, they can simply guarantee delivery according to a timeframe set for delivery destinations in that specific area. This helps to alleviate the risk of promising a certain delivery window and disappointing customers when it isn’t met.
For example, if a customer’s delivery address is within a 3-mile radius of your facility, you could set up a pick, pack, and ship workflow for orders in that radius that guarantees same-day delivery if orders are placed before 12pm. If they are within a 5-mile radius, the cut-off could be set earlier at 11am to take into account the longer transit distance.
This way, unscheduled delivery makes it possible to exceed customer expectations; if you can deliver the package in advance of the window given, it gives the impression of your brand as a reliable and efficient vendor, which increases the likelihood of repeat purchases.
Reduce delivery costs
The main reason why expedited delivery services are so costly is because they require a tailored order fulfillment and delivery schedule for that one order. On-demand delivery services make it very difficult to scale delivery volumes without sacrificing speed, which is a big risk when a customer has likely paid a premium to secure rapid delivery.
Unscheduled delivery gives businesses a longer timeframe to fulfill orders, making it possible to aggregate delivery for multiple orders with the same shipping speed. This cuts the cost of shipping and delivery per order, which can be reinvested in your fulfillment operation.
The must-haves to implement an unscheduled delivery service
Multiple fulfillment centers. Offering expedited delivery options like same-day and next-day can only be done when customers are located within a narrow radius of your facility. Using a network of fulfillment centers puts you within close reach of key customer hubs and shortens delivery timeframes to more of your customers, making unscheduled delivery much more flexible.
Real-time order management. Unscheduled delivery is only a viable option in your business has granular control over order processing and fulfillment. Being able to see the status of outstanding orders in real-time and route them to the correct facility makes aggregate shipping much more seamless and avoids delays that result in late delivery.
Review inventory assortments to determine suitability for unscheduled deliveries. Not all of your SKUs will be appropriate to deliver according to no set schedule. Perishable or hazmat products, for example, may be compromised if they spend too long in transit. Likewise, high-value goods that require signatures upon delivery may not be convenient for customers, as they don’t know how long or when they need to be at home to receive their parcel.
Seamless communication with customers. When customers aren’t given a defined delivery slot, it’s even more important that they receive regular updates about the status of their shipment. In addition to fostering confidence and trust in your brand, these touchpoints allow consumers to potentially adjust their schedules to be home when their order is delivered.
Partner with ShippingTree to unlock unscheduled delivery capabilities
Streamlined multi-node fulfillment. Access a network of strategic fulfillment locations in Los Angeles, Columbus, and Dallas—increasing your geographic coverage for rapid delivery nationwide.
Intuitive order management. Our easy-to-use platform enables you to process orders, monitor inventory levels, and manage shipments in real-time, so you always know what’s happening at your facility.
Same-day delivery to key markets. ShippingTree offers same-day delivery services throughout the Los Angeles area, giving you a key differentiator in an important consumer hub.
Want to learn more about ShippingTree’s omnichannel fulfillment services? Contact us today.
