In brief:
We should not forget the 4th P of marketing - the Place, or Distribution. With the enormous amount of online shopping and home deliveries worldwide, shops should follow up their sales cycle through. Until the customer has received their order, the shop runs the risk of disappointing, even though it has done nothing wrong. Outsourcing delivery through post or courier is fine, as long as the waiting customer is not forgotten, and there is a guarantee for the delivery.
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I recently bought my cousin something from Amazon. As usual, Amazon's online shopping system was good: immaculately correct, (relatively) user friendly, and with quick shipping out of the product. However, the next part of the delivery process, the mailing, was an uncertain experience, which is any buyer's nightmare.
Receiving the purchase involved a delay in the shipping, and an additional import tax, which is never a good detail when you are buying a gift for someone.
The reason it happened was that Amazon, like many online shops, outsources the delivery of its products to the post or couriers. The second the product leaves the firm's warehouse, the delivery of the product is no longer under its control, and hence the firm refuses to be accountable for any delays. WRONG!
From the customer's perspective, you picked your item from shop A, paid shop A and expect shop A to deliver it, roughly in the arranged deadline. Any problems, you blame shop A, and its image suffers. Not the image of the post or of the courier firm which were being used.
In the Amazon example, before the item was even scheduled to arrive, I received an email from Amazon thanking me for the purchase and suggesting related items I could buy. No information whatsoever for tracking my purchase, or a link to indicate an undelivered purchase. This is not good after-sales care. As far as Amazon was concerned, our relationship had ended.
The conclusion: follow up the progress of deliveries with your clients, because you risk losing them. Ask them if they have received their orders, and provide guarantees for delayed or undelivered orders.
