If you’re not sure about how much of an impact a good or bad delivery has on your business, a good place to start is with the numbers. A recent study showed that around 72.5 per cent of poor deliveries made it more likely for customers to not recommend the said retailer to other people, and also stop ordering from the same retailer.

A business that continues at this rate is not very likely to build a strong customer base, let alone make much profit, especially if it’s a small business that’s just starting out. We’ve put together a list of 4 of the most important reasons why you must act on every delivery complaint and how this could have an effect on your business in the long run – let’s get started.

1. Many customers rarely complain

Many times, business owners assume that not getting many complaints is a clear indication of business going well, especially when it comes to the delivery of goods. However, a study shows that most customers rarely take the effort to complain about delivery service. Instead, they simply move on to a new seller.

The reason for this could be that many of them assume that complaining will have little to no effect on the problem, since most businesses (especially the well-established ones) won’t take serious action against their third-party delivery vendors.

That’s why it becomes all the more important to act on every single customer complaint, because there are very few who’d take the time and effort to complain if they experience a delivery issue.

It’s also a good idea to send a follow-up email to assure them that you’ve received their complaint and have also taken the required steps to fix the problem. Another good way to win customers is by sending them a coupon code as a complement the first time they complain of a bad delivery service.

2. Word-of-mouth marketing will take a hit

Not only will you miss out on winning over customers in the long run, but you’ll also miss out on the traffic you could potentially get through word-of-mouth marketing. Even though the world is becoming more digitised each year, there’s nothing that comes close to word-of-mouth marketing, where individuals can not only hear about but also see the product in-person.

For instance, seeing a dress in-person and hearing about the shopping experience is vastly different from seeing the same dress on a model on a screen. The only way to get good marketing through this method is to create a memorable shopping experience, which starts from when the customer enters the website to when they receive their parcel in person. If the final experience of getting their product is not up to the mark, then that’s the experience that they’re likely going to remember even if they liked the product you’re selling.

3. Bad online reviews will hurt the business

Very often, people like to look online for reviews about the sellers or businesses they’re buying from to make sure that they’re not getting scammed, especially if it’s the first time they’re shopping from a business.

If your business has many negative reviews talking about the delivery experience, it’s likely that potential customers will want to steer clear of making the same mistake. It also increases the chances of your business appearing to be a scam if there are many negative reviews, especially if customers talk of missing or damaged products.

4. Your business will lose reliability

Customers make an order with the hope of receiving their parcel on-time, in good shape, and without any damage. If any of these (or in the worst case, all of these) aspects don’t hit the mark, then there would be no reason for them to become a regular customer of that business.

For instance, if they’re ordering a dress for prom at the last minute but end up receiving the dress a couple of days later due to the inability of the delivery partner to deliver on-time, not only does it create a huge negative impact on the business on the whole but it also makes your business lose its reliability as you can’t seem to stick to the estimated date of delivery.

All these problems can pile up and create a bad image around your business, simply because of your delivery partner. That’s why it’s important to act on every little complaint you get before it’s too late to save your business.