Online retailers should keep promises in check, and consumers should avoid last-minute Internet shopping to dodge another delivery debacle like the one this week that left many without their Christmas gifts, according to retail analysts.
But neither online sellers such as Amazon, nor delivery giant UPS is expected to sustain long-term damage for failing to make promised shipping deadlines, the analysts said.
"Shoppers' memories aren't that great," said Norwell retail consultant Michael Tesler. "It's always the next deal, the next credit card issue, the next item that everyone has to have. I don't see any ongoing ramifications."
Neither Amazon nor UPS would provide details on the scope of the late deliveries. FedEx said it shipped 99 percent of its ground deliveries on time, but didn't comment on its air shipments.
UPS said it expected to wrap up almost all late deliveries yesterday. "The volume of air packages in our system exceeded the capacity of our network, as demand was much greater than the forecast," spokesman Tyre Sperling said.
Tewksbury resident Marc Tortorici is waiting to hear back from Pottery Barn about his requested refund of an extra $15 delivery fee that he paid to ensure slippers for his wife would arrive by Christmas Eve. The package wasn't delivered until yesterday.
"As long as my $15 is returned, then I will not have an issue with either Pottery Barn or the carrier," he said. "But I will not order any item late next year, since I know they are over-promising what they can deliver."
IBM analytics said online sales in the weekend before Christmas surged 37 percent over the previous year.
Any short-term backlash won't reverse the growth of online sales, according to analyst Donald Broughton of Avondale Partners, but he does expect to see added delivery capacity next year and earlier cut-off dates for guaranteed last-minute deliveries.
"This is just a bump in the road on the great land rush of e-commerce," Broughton said. "When you have such huge surge in volume, it's going to come with issues."
Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter called Amazon a "victim of its own success."
"Amazon has kind of lulled us as consumers into believing that we can wait to the very last second," he told Bloomberg Television. "It's Amazon's fault for guaranteeing it, and they're guaranteeing something that they don't control — which is the third-party carriers."
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Avoiding another delivery disaster
Dengan url
http://wartawanlocal.blogspot.com/2013/12/avoiding-another-delivery-disaster.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Avoiding another delivery disaster
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Avoiding another delivery disaster
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar