Real-Time Delivery Calculator: Example of Omnichannel Management Middleware

Too long delivery term is one of the key reasons why 88% of shoppers abandon their carts. Meanwhile, almost every medium and large retailer has an online calculator that automatically determines the delivery time and cost. Let's consider why widespread software for retail isn’t able to fix statistics and which product definitely can do it.

Delivery Calculator And Its Value For Business

It is core for many buyers to receive their purchase as soon as possible. In the case of shopping at a brick-and-mortar store, it is not an issue. The client picks up the goods at the time of payment. But in the e-commerce environment, retailers face challenges. Many find it difficult to deliver goods to customers, although, for example, Amazon service has succeeded. The company has created an express delivery service that delivers purchases to end-users worldwide within a few hours.

But other traders don't always have the resources to follow suit. Often, business representatives buy ready-made solutions or custom software that help to determine the delivery time. But why doesn't it work, anyway?

The thing is that they often set approximate terms (like "within 7-9 days") and overwhelm the buyer with it when he opens the cart. Customers don't like to wait too long. And when they receive data about one of the principal purchase engines at the end of the deal, clients' time is wasted, and they feel cheated.

The first thing to give clients is certainty. They deserve clearly understanding when the courier will knock on their door to hand over the ordered toaster or T-shirt. It requires a real-time delivery calculator implementation. It is software that calculates delivery times in real-time mode based on data received from different channels. The solution gives relevant data for each specific buyer, enhancing his client experience through a customized approach.

And the other thing retailers should provide their customers is respect. Respect shoppers' time by letting them see the exact delivery time of each item as soon as they open a product catalog.

Because of its features, the real-time delivery calculator can provide clients with both of the above benefits. The system gives not only the most accurate time frame; it is also exposed directly in the product catalog, near the properties of goods. Thus, the client is familiar with the essential terms of the deal from the beginning and is ready to make an informed choice.

Here's what it does for the business:

• positive customer experience and increase of client lifetime value;

• fewer abandoned carts;

• optimization of the internal systems work (the client is determined and rarely asks to amend his order);

• acceleration of digital transformation in retail;

• going beyond the competition (as seen, companies often neglect the importance of such a solution and suffer from it).

How Does The Real-Time Delivery Calculator Work?

The principle of the system operating should be as follows. The first thing a product needs to consider for relevant data generation is the location of each customer. Next, the program receives information about which goods the client is viewing, checks their availability in the warehouses closest to the client, and provides the customer with several delivery options, for example: fast and expensive or long and cheap. The system also needs to analyze the availability of the company's internal transport resources for certain goods delivery. If they are limited, the solution interacts with partners providing delivery services.

Thus, development should integrate seamlessly with the:

• transport management system;

• warehouse management system;

• third parties providing supply services;

• ERP software for calculation shipping costs.

Before implementing the product, the retail business representative determines the range of data and the essence of the requests to which the system should respond. It includes data about all products in the assortment, their warehouse location, volumes, properties, etc.

The software is to make accurate calculations in real-time and deliver results to the buyer. Here the system should be highly scalable since it's about thousands of requests per day, hundreds and thousands of combinations for each product.

Such a solution can support the omnichannel direction of the company. It processes data from different channels of communication with customers and provides them with data in real-time mode, quickly interacting with internal systems and influencing their operations.

JEVERA team has recently worked on custom retail software development. The result was a real-time delivery calculator for the company with a 54 million client audience. It's a microservice product that works under the above principles, has a high level of scalability and integration.

Conclusion

Thus, a real-time delivery calculator is essential for a successful business. It enables the client to choose the best purchase option for himself from the very beginning, based on all the essential parameters. In turn, this approach helps the retailer retain existing customers and attract new ones more easily, shaping their positive customer and user experiences.