What is Your Wine Delivery Rate?

It’s easy to think that once your wine has left your property or the fulfillment house, you don’t need to worry about it anymore. In discussions with our customers, we’ve found that that isn’t the case. Package delivery is a critical component of direct-to-consumer wine sales.

Consumer expectations have increased as a result of the new delivery precedent that companies like Amazon have set. People expect that receiving packages should be easy. If your customers’ wine isn’t delivered on time, the first time, their experience with your winery becomes tarnished, and the work that you put into creating an incredible experience is at risk. This is where the ability to manage package delivery becomes crucial to maintaining the experience that started in your tasting room.

The Importance of a Good Delivery Rate

Delivery rate is the rate at which your wine is successfully delivered. It’s measured as the percent of your shipments that are delivered on the first delivery attempt. It’s essentially a score — the higher the percent, the better.

The Big Delivery Problem — Failed Delivery Attempts

The adult signature requirement for wine packages compromises delivery rates. Recipients usually aren’t home during the day when the common carriers (FedEx and UPS) attempt to deliver packages to their house or apartment.

Combine that with the fact that many customers are either not comfortable receiving wine packages at work or they aren’t willing to haul a case of wine home from the office. Of the almost six million packages that go through ShipCompliant Direct each year, 62 percent (and climbing) are shipped to residential addresses. Only 78 percent of those packages are successfully delivered on the first attempt. If you refer to the math problem above, that’s a C+. I’m sure you’ll agree when we say that that’s not good enough.

Percentage of Packages with Residential Delivery Addresses Over Time

The Risks of Failed Delivery Attempts

One of the last things you want is for your wine to go back and forth on last-mile delivery trucks. Failed delivery attempts can lead to a host of problems:

• Extended exposure to temperatures that are too hot in the summer or too cold in the winter
• Customer anxiety around where and when they will receive their order
• Customer dissatisfaction due to the effort of trying to coordinate the delivery
• Staff time dedicated to managing the customer experience
• Additional risks to the package health
• Lost time and money

As you can see, the results of these failed attempts are detrimental. We know that you, like us, want to provide an incredible experience for your customers. Buying wine should result in delight — not distress. What does your winery do to ensure that the customer experience doesn’t end when shipment begins? Share with us in the comments.

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