Retailers, customers, and even suppliers are susceptible to shipping delays for a number of reasons—be it geopolitical, climate, or pandemic-related circumstances, situations that can have impacts for years.
According to one survey, 70% of consumers have had a shipping delay in the last six months. Retailers lose revenue from not being able to stock in-demand products, and customer satisfaction also suffers. In fact, 40% of consumers say they would stop buying from a brand entirely after a negative shipping experience.
So how can you navigate shipping delays as a retailer? This post will highlight the main causes as well as some tips on how to mitigate and handle delivery delays.
What causes shipping delays?
While shipping delays are the last thing any retailer wants to face, sometimes they’re unavoidable. Here are seven common causes:
Labor shortages
Global worker shortages have contributed to shipping delays. A 2024 report revealed that 37% of organizations are experiencing high labor shortages. Almost two-thirds have transportation issues as a result of understaffing, and 58% say that significant disruptions have impacted customer service.
Holidays
Retailers often experience spikes in orders during holiday periods—a time when shoppers want to have their items arrive on time. This causes an increase in shipment volumes that can overwhelm couriers, especially if they don’t have an efficient delivery network system.
Don’t forget about international holidays, too. Not everything happens in the US—if there’s a significant event in a country where you have lots of suppliers, for example, you should stay informed on their production schedules and calendars.
In anticipation of holiday shipping delays, many retailers post deadlines for customers to place their online orders or if they want to ship from store.
Extreme weather conditions
Many truck delays in the US are due to weather conditions. Yet only 25% of businesses feel confident that they have sufficient plans to deal with the impact extreme weather has on their supply chain.
From freezing conditions on the road to gale force winds at sea, bad weather and natural disasters can create chaos at all stages of domestic and international shipping.
Supply chain disruptions
The Future of Commerce report found that 39% of brands say shipping and manufacturing delays and shipping costs will continue to be a top supply-chain-related challenge over the next 12 months. The top causes of these issues include economic uncertainty, inflation, and shortages of raw materials.
Global emergencies like a pandemic, cyber risks, war conflict, and port delays have caused worldwide supply chain problems over that past decade or less. Expensive cargo capacity and emergency shipments became prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, the conflicts in Ukraine, the China Sea, and in Gaza, as well as increased shipping costs and low water levels in the Panama Canal, have also contributed to global shipping delays.
Lost or damaged packages
Lost or damaged packages can happen at various points through the entire supply chain—often during the final shipping process. Roughly 44% of US consumers have experienced a stolen parcel, ultimately causing a shipping delay between the time they place their order and receive the package.
Transportation issues
Transportation issues in the shipping industry arise out of many circumstances—extreme weather and geopolitical tensions, to name a few. These challenges can be completely out of your control. Shipping routes may become inaccessible, the cost of fuel may rise, and other circumstances can lead to significant delays for the final delivery.
Inaccurate shipping information
When customers give a misspelled or incorrect address at checkout, or when the retailer doesn’t document the customer’s order properly, the courier company may not have enough information to correctly deliver the package. This can cause shipping delays, increased last mile delivery costs—or worse, the package never arrives.
How do shipping delays impact retailers?
On top of influencing customer purchasing decisions, shipping delays impact retailers on a number of levels:
Lost revenue
Shipping delays can negatively impact retail revenue on a huge scale. In fact, 65% of business leaders say they’ve had greater losses caused by supply chain issues than they thought, and 58% are concerned about short-term loss of sales.
Susana Saeliu, co-founder and CEO of Shopify store Pluto Pillow, explains how shipping delays in the US and across Asia lowered her brand’s conversion rate: “The longest we've been delayed is by eight weeks; in other words, customers would receive their custom pillow in two months! This was incredibly difficult, as our turnaround time was usually seven business days. As a result, we definitely saw a decrease in conversion rate.”
Lengthy delivery estimates can also deter shoppers from buying from your brand. In the last year, 32% of customers say they have abandoned their carts because the estimated shipping time was too long.
Damage to brand trust and reputation
When shoppers rely on retailers to deliver items on time, they’re inevitably going to be disappointed when their order doesn’t show up when expected. That disappointment can lead to future concerns about delivery times and potentially a reluctance to re-order.
Inventory issues
Shipping delays can make it hard for retailers to effectively forecast demand and plan their inventory. As a result, retailers may overstock and end up paying high costs for inventory storage. Alternatively, they may under-forecast customer demand, quickly sell out, and be unable to restock quickly enough to meet actual customer demand.
💡 Pro tip: Shopify POS comes with tools to assist with inventory management across multiple store locations, your online store, and warehouse. Forecast demand, set low-stock alerts, create purchase orders, know which items are selling or sitting on shelves, count inventory, and more.
How to handle shipping delays
Dealing with shipping delays is one of the biggest challenges retailers face. Yet only 48% believe the causes of supply chain risks are within their control. Even with streamlined shipping operations, it’s hard to avoid delays completely. Unfortunately, even if the delay isn’t your fault, your customer will see it as a problem and you may lose sales.
It’s vital to plan ahead and think about how you’ll handle inevitable shipping delays. Here are five tips for dealing with them.
Create a contingency plan for timely delivery
While you don’t always have control over shipping delays, you can take some steps to mitigate your vulnerability to potential disruptions, as well as how you handle them.
One option is to diversify—use multiple carriers, warehouse locations, and suppliers. You can do this with Shopify Shipping, which allows you to ship from up to 1,000 fulfillment locations worldwide and create custom shipping rates for specific regions or products.
Another option is to invest in insurance coverage—89% senior decision-makers think insurance is “mission critical” for supply chain risks.
Offer free shipping
Free shipping is a chance to show customers you value them and are committed to providing high-quality service. They also help you combat delays: some 34% of consumers say they’re willing to delay deliveries up to five days if incentivized.
Provide in-store pickup
As shoppers become increasingly aware of shipping delays, they’re more open to new ways of receiving their orders. Over one-third of consumers are choosing alternative fulfillment options like curbside pickup to receive their orders on time and mitigate shipping delays.
“We offer in-store and curbside pickup as well as a signed-for-delivery option,” say Kelly and Zoey Allen of KelZo Jewellery. “We also absorbed the rise in postage costs ourselves so as not to incur any extra costs to our customers, showing them how committed we are.”
💡 Pro tip: Set up in-store pickup in Shopify to start offering in-store pickup as a delivery option at checkout. Pay less on last-mile delivery, speed up fulfillment times on local orders, and drive more foot traffic to your stores.
Offer shipment tracking
Customers like to know when their order will arrive. Shipment tracking systems can reassure them that their order is on its way, even if it’s delayed.
“Shipment tracking allows customers to know if a delay is caused by shipping carriers or your business,” says Jack Lee, the owner of Evolve Mala. “The latter erodes brand trust much more than the former. Another benefit of offering shipment tracking is that it reduces the number of support tickets from customers wanting to know where their order is.”
Some ecommerce providers (including Shopify and the Shop app) let customers track real-time delivery of packages. They include tracking details in transactional emails, including order confirmations, for complete visibility on where their parcel is.
Communicate shipping delays with customers
Almost half of brands are investing in not just their delivery practices, but also transparency with their delivery promises—like sharing when an order is prepared and shipped. These updates cater to the 45% of shoppers who actively look for businesses that clearly show anticipated delivery times.
If a shipping delay throws your estimation off cause, open lines of communication prevent unexpected surprises on your customer’s end.
Offer gift cards and discounts to dissatisfied customers
Gift cards and discounts are another way to show customers you care and value their business, even when things don’t go according to plan. Incentives like gift cards or free replacements (with expedited shipping) lower customer frustration surrounding delayed shipments.
Granted, this strategy will require a little investment on your part, but it’s much less expensive than having your customers write bad reviews or never buy from you again.
With Shopify POS, you can sell physical and digital gift cards that can be redeemed both in store and online. Sell physical gift cards in store, email digital gift cards to customers, and let them redeem their gift card wherever they prefer to shop.
Mitigate shipping delays for your retail business
Now that you know the main causes of shipping delays, you’re ready to put in place these strategies to minimize their impact on your retail store. Whether you run a thriving ecommerce store or manage a physical retail location, these tactics will help your business succeed in spite of current challenges.
Prefer to outsource shipping altogether? Shopify Fulfillment Network makes it easy to connect with Flexport, our trusted logistics partner, to ship anywhere, save time, and accelerate business growth. After you receive an order, Flexport picks and packs your products and ships them to your customer, with most shipments within the United States delivered to your customer within three days.
Read more
- Demand Planning for Retailers: How to Prepare for an Influx of New Shoppers
- Inflation in Retail: Everything You Need to Know
- How to Calculate Beginning Inventory & Give Stock a Dollar Value
- Retailer’s Guide to Inventory Days on Hand (DOH)
- The Retailer’s Guide to GMROI (and How to Improve It)
- Keeping Up With Demand: Tactics to Boost Productivity And Get Orders Out on Time
- Replenish Stock, Increase Cash Flow: How Perpetual Inventory Works for Retailers
- 10 Ways On-Demand Manufacturing Can Help Retailers Streamline Their Operations
- Everything Retailers Need to Know About Inventory Costs
Shipping delays FAQ
Why is shipping taking so long right now?
Geopolitical tensions, labor shortages, and severe weather conditions are impacting the shipping industry and causing delays in 2024.
Why are deliveries so delayed?
Deliveries are often delayed due to labor shortages, national holidays, extreme weather, supply chain issues, transportation, or inaccurate shipping information inputted at checkout.
What is causing shipping delays in 2024?
- Labor shortages
- Holiday
- Extreme weather
- Supply chain issues
- Lost or damaged packages
- Transportation issues
- Inaccurate shipping information
How do you explain shipping delays?
Explain shipping delays with proactive and transparent communication. Let customers know as soon as you’re aware their order will be delayed. Be upfront and honest about what is causing the delays, and give as much detail and up-to-date information about shipping times as possible.