COVID-19 impact on fulfillment

The resounding message to stopping the spread of COVID-19 is to limit contact with people. This effort is impacting the fulfillment and delivery of large shipments according to Convey.

The fulfillment time for freight packages increased with 433% in May. The time increased to 75.2 hours on average from 14.1 hours in April. Freight items are large items or a collection of boxes shipped on one pallet, moving as a group. The fulfillment time is the length of time from when a shopper purchases a product to when the order is picked up by the carrier for delivery.

On-time deliveries

In May, the shipment volume increased with 49% year over year. However, this is less than the 60% increase which happened in April. Overall, on-time deliveries decreased from 79% in April to 75% of orders delivered on time in May. On-time deliveries for freight shipments decreased as well. In April, 71% of freight shipments were delivered on time. This percentage decreased to 66% in May.

The biggest decline in on-time deliveries was at UPS. The on-time rates at UPS dipped from 81% in April to 75% in May. In addition, FedEx also experienced a slight dip from 77% in April to 75% in May.

Negative customer feedback

Negative feedback among customers has also increased. 41% of customers reported that they had a negative delivery experience in May, compared to 33% in April. However, proactive communication about delivery issues have helped the decrease of negative customer feedback.

In addition, Convey explains that 49% of consumers would abandon their cart simply due to a mismatch between their expectations for the delivery date and the actual delivery date. On the other hand, 60% of shoppers are willing to give retailers 3-4 additional days to ship their orders.