Messages during shipping
What are the most important notifications and messages when shopping online? From the moment an order is placed, the status of the products ordered and collection-related communication are crucial.
Online Shopping & Delivery — Part 4
Research into the Hungarian market
In recent years, everyone has experienced how the world of online shopping has changed our lives. The exponential growth of online purchases and the widespread use of online platforms have created new opportunities for businesses, while providing consumers with convenient and fast access to a wide range of products and services.
Based on our research into online order delivery, in this series of articles we will present users' expectations and experiences of online order payment, delivery and communication during the process.
A non-representative online questionnaire, in-depth interviews and desk research preceded this article. In our questionnaire survey, we interviewed participants between the ages of 16 and 75.
Online Shopping & Delivery Series
We introduce the payment methods customers prefer. We explore the criteria they use to make decisions and their attitudes towards increasingly popular virtual card payments.
#2 — The Economic Effects of COVID-19
We discuss the economic impact on online shopping. We look at whether changes in shopping habits during the Covid period have continued, and outline how rising inflation may influence users' decisions regarding payment and delivery methods.
In this article, we look at customer feedback on different delivery methods and preferences. We also discuss how delivery choices across product categories influence customers, as well as what they think about environmentally friendly delivery methods.
#4 - Messages during shipping
From the moment an order is placed, the status of the products ordered and collection-related communication are crucial. In this article, we focus on which messages and notifications customers consider important.
In this article, we discuss customers' perceptions of the safety of online shopping, the items they return, and their concerns and expectations when shopping on international websites.
You have one new message
Notifications and emails play a crucial role in online shopping, serving as an important communication channel between businesses and consumers. Timely notifications, such as order confirmations, shipping updates and delivery notifications, keep customers informed about the status of their purchases and enhance the overall shopping experience. Collection-related notifications also play a significant role in the customer experience. The "Successful order" message is the most important for respondents, regardless of the chosen collection method. Customers primarily expect collection-related messages from the delivery company. The least informative messages are those indicating that the parcel is moving between warehouses. Preferences for messages vary depending on the chosen delivery method.
Email is customers’ preferred primary communication channel, especially for home delivery. If delivery takes longer, customers often track their parcels through emails. The "Successful order" message arrives immediately after purchase, but after that, the most important message is the courier’s expected arrival time. They do not appreciate receiving an email notification about the courier’s arrival only on the morning of delivery, as they often cannot prepare adequately. If email communication is sufficiently informative, they do not feel the need for further tracking.
Messages during food delivery
The digital world has opened up many opportunities in recent years, allowing us not only to buy tech products and clothes online, but also to skip cooking on a lazy day by ordering food to our homes with just a few clicks. Dedicated mobile applications allow users to browse a wide range of restaurants, check prices and promotions, and easily pay online for their chosen meals. However, when it comes to food delivery, expectations vary and customers often prioritise speed. According to feedback from study participants, customers expect their food orders to be delivered within a maximum of one hour of placing the order.
For home delivery, customer preferences regarding messages differ only for food orders. In this case, they primarily expect notifications through the app and do not really follow messages by email. For food orders, the message that the courier has collected the order is considered much more important than in other home-delivery scenarios, as delivery typically takes place shortly afterwards.
For collection from parcel points and lockers, the most important information is when the parcel can be collected. Customers find advance notifications or messages about the courier collecting the parcel less informative. Here, too, they primarily expect information by email, but they also find SMS and Viber messages attention-grabbing.
For in-person collection, the message stating "when the product can be collected" is considered the most important after the "Successful order" message.
We were also curious about the channels people currently use to receive order notifications. Of our respondents, 62% believe that, regardless of whether they started their purchase using a mobile application or a browser, they still expect to receive email notifications about every status.
Where is my parcel?
People track their online orders in various ways, and this has now become an integral part of the modern shopping experience. Consumers appreciate the convenience of monitoring the real-time status and location of their orders, which gives them transparency and peace of mind throughout the delivery process. Whether it is a parcel or grocery delivery, online order tracking increases customer satisfaction by providing visibility and updates on the journey of purchases from the retailer to their doorstep. Almost half of respondents focus only on essential statuses, while 33% follow every status notification. Twelve per cent of respondents track their parcel only if it takes a long time to arrive, while 9% pay attention to statuses only for specific product categories.
Age groups also have different attitudes towards parcel tracking. Younger respondents (aged 15–25) tend to follow every status notification because they spend more time online, while those aged 46 and over prefer to follow only the essential statuses.