If patience truly is a virtue, it is one that modern society has abandoned. In today’s fast-paced world, consumers hate the thought of wasting time.

People tend to seek the quickest and most efficient solution to their problems, even if it is not the best option available.

We can see evidence of wavering patience in the spending habits of online consumers.

According to Akamai, 18% of online shoppers expect an instantaneous response from eCommerce websites. An additional 30% expect their eCommerce sites to load within a single second, and according to Radware, 18% of shoppers will actually abandon their shopping cart if their experience becomes too slow.

With stats like these, it’s safe to say, we don’t like to wait.

This is especially true in regards to shipping. Shipping is the last and most important frontier when it comes to satisfying customers. After clicking the purchase button, the consumer’s need for instant gratification goes into full effect. Immediately, they crave to have their purchased item.

However, this excitement is ever fleeting.

Masters of Delivery

If you do not meet their expectations on delivery consumers will begin to resent your company and may even begin to experience buyers remorse.

The status quo for shipping and delivery is still approximately 4-5 business days. However, online retail companies like Amazon are setting new standards on delivery time that no business owner can afford to overlook.

According to the third annual Future of Retail Report, the expectations for speedy delivery, easy returns, and overall convenience during the online shopping experience continues to increase.

Amazon, UberRush, Postmates, and Flipkart are all companies who understand these changes in the consumer buying behavior and are taking great strives to meet the growing demand.

Those who can deliver products the fastest will win the coming battle for online consumer dollars.

The future of faster delivery begins with the supply chain, the faster and easier the better.

Take Amazon for example: Amazon Prime members are guaranteed to receive their products within 2 days, and Amazon recently released its same-day shipping option in select cities. Amazon can only do this because of its superior supply chain and fulfillment centers.

As you can tell from the map above, Amazon has a vast network of distribution warehouses that are located strategically throughout the US. So, whenever an order is placed online, Amazon uses a unique algorithm to determine which warehouse is able to fulfill the order and provide the fastest delivery time possible.

Because Amazon owns its fulfillment centers and does its own shipping, it can prioritize shipping as it sees fit.

According to Internet Retailer’s Fulfilment Report, the average delivery time for online retailers is four days. Which, to an Amazon Prime customer, feels like an eternity.

In response to figures like these, many retailers are beginning to follow Amazon’s footsteps.

More and more retailers are building distribution centers around major cities to fulfill online orders and are investing in finding better shipping options.

While this is a great move for mega companies who have the budget to build entire warehouses, many businesses are not able to do this.  

Think Quickly and Move Faster

So how can companies who don’t have massive warehouses across the country satisfy customer demand for faster shipping?

By getting help from other businesses that specialize in speedy delivery.

Companies like Deliv specialize in servicing retailers like Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s so that consumers have the option of same-day shipping.

So, how does it work?

Deliv clients are able to add the Deliv shipping option to their checkout page on eCommerce sites or in-store checkout.

During the online checkout process, Deliv gives customers the option to select what day and time of day they'd like their product delivered, and Deliv delivers it on behalf of their client company.

Another alternative to increase your company's shipping speeds is to adopt a warehouse management system.

A warehouse management system (WMS) is a type of software used to manage operations in a warehouse including inventory management, picking processes, and auditing.

WMSs integrates with other software that your warehouse uses, such as shipping software.

When you couple your shipping and other logistics software with a WMS, like SkuVault, you can streamline your warehouse workflows and ship more efficiently.

Get creative

After establishing an efficient shipping process for your warehouse, find unique methods to fulfill orders quickly.

This may require you to flex your brain muscles a bit as you may have to create a solution that doesn't yet exist to get the results you want.

For example, instead of using a service like UPS, FedEx, USPS, etc. to deliver locally you could invest in a delivery van that can deliver same day shipping within a specific area. It is not quite Amazon level but it's a step in the right direction and could generate local buzz about your company's delivery speeds.

Conclusion

Overall, the takeaway is that if you want to gain a leg up on the competition you must master shipping. Fast, efficient, and easy for consumers: Those are the ingredients that make up the secret sauce to success.