Dive Brief:

• The vast majority — 87%— of orders that were delivered in five days or less pleased retailers’ customers enough that they took some action to promote the brand, according to a survey by cloud-based, distributed order management firm Shopatron.

• “Promoters” bought again, acted as a brand evangelist, or referred other customers via word of mouth. When orders arrived later than five days after the order, that number dropped to 66%, according to the survey.

• Shopatron analyzed more than 28,000 customer satisfaction results based on delivery speeds and distances.

Dive Insight:

There are all kinds of delivery options these days, from same-day or even one-hour delivery in some areas, and conveniences like click-and-collect. But it’s worth looking at the effects of more traditional deliveries of e-commerce orders because, as this analysis shows, how long an order takes to arrive (and, in other research, how much it costs) influences how customers perceive a retailer.

A few years ago, for example, L.L. Bean reinstated free shipping because it found that customers would abandon their online orders on the basis of what they considered to be unacceptable shipping charges. 

And while speedier deliveries may turn customers into brand ambassadors, the opposite may also be true. As it's grown and acquired new customers, for example, flash-sales site Zulily is finding that many are not content to the average 13 days its orders were taking to arrive and has taken steps to have more inventory on hand to address that.

Now Shopatron finds that if an order can reach customers within five days, those customers could pay the favor forward by promoting the brand. Retailers can think of quicker delivery as marketing, and any extra price of the sped-up logistics could seem worth it.