Picture this. You walk into a store because you want to buy a yellow t-shirt, but they only sell black t-shirts. Your choices? Buy a black t-shirt … or go somewhere else.

If customers can’t choose, they’re forced to stick with the status quo – even if it’s not that great. They feel like they’re given a one-size-fits-all solution, not one that actually suits their needs or expectations. And they’ll be more likely to go somewhere else to find what they want.

The same concept applies to online retail. Customers want choice at checkout. They want to make a decision on delivery based on what’s important to them, not the retailer, particularly around speed and convenience. They might want fast delivery, they might want free delivery, and they want to be at home when their delivery arrives because there’s nothing more annoying than receiving a ‘sorry we missed you’ card instead of that pair of shoes they ordered over a week ago.

What are the benefits of offering different delivery options?

Speed-related shipping methods empower your customer to choose when they want to receive an order, within a particular timeframe. For example, a customer might be going to a wedding in three days’ time but has left it to the last minute to get a new pair of shoes. They find the perfect pair online but they’re not sure if they’ll get them on time. If you have a range of shipping options that guarantee fast delivery like next-day, same-day, overnight, twilight, or standard, the customer will have the confidence to buy.

Similarly, shipping method options let a customer choose a delivery time frame when it’s convenient for them. A twilight, weekend or Click & Collect shipping method might mean that they’re more likely to receive their delivery on the first attempt. This equals a better customer experience, fewer enquiries to your support team, and less cost and hassle to your business and your customer with organising redeliveries.

Another benefit of offering choice at checkout is that it spreads the load of demand across courier services. This is useful for high-demand periods when couriers are experiencing delays.

Shopify reported 19% of people abandoned their carts because the retailer’s delivery options were too slow. There is nothing more powerful than giving your customers options to decide for themselves.

You can also set shipping rates based on postcode, country and parcel weights too. For example, shipping to NSW might be free, QLD $5, and WA $10, while large or heavy items might incur a standard $20 delivery fee.

You don’t need to partner with just one courier that will manage everything. If you offer various delivery options, it makes sense to split each shipping method out to different couriers. For example, you might decide that DHL Express has the quickest service so you can assign all express and same-day deliveries to them, while standard deliveries could be allocated to a small, local courier.