The last mile reputation gap
Rory O’Connor, Founder and CEO, Scurri explains why retailers are risking their reputation in the last mile and how they can solve it.
Time spent by retailers optimising the moment of purchase through faster checkouts, better product content and smarter recommendations has left little space for focusing on the fact that the experience customers remember most often begins after the buy button is clicked.
This has resulted in a growing disconnect, what we call the last mile reputation gap, a widening divide between what retailers believe they deliver post-purchase and what customers actually experience.
Once, it wasn’t so easy to see what was happening post-purchase. Delivery was treated as a logistics function, a cost centre to be optimised for speed and efficiency. But from the customer’s perspective, it is something else entirely, the most tangible expression of a brand promise and where expectation meets reality.
One problem is that speed has been put before service. Retailers often overvalue speed as the defining metric of delivery success. Next Day has become the standard and the ambition is for Same Day. Basically, faster is assumed to mean better but the consumer has other ideas. They don’t stop trusting a brand because a delivery takes two days instead of one, they lose trust when the experience becomes unpredictable, vague or downright frustrating.
For example, a missed delivery window that forces them to stay home all day; multiple failed delivery attempts with no clear resolution; a parcel marked delivered that hasn’t arrived; or a return that disappears into a black hole, with no updates and a delayed refund. These examples are becoming more prevalent and they lead to doubt, something far more damaging than delay.
These and other examples lead to a loss of trust. Delivery promises that don’t hold up in reality, for instance, where narrow time windows are offered, but not met. Or notifications are sent out but not updated or customers are left managing uncertainty rather than being guided through the process.
And then the next step often goes wrong. The exception handling lacks visibility. Customers accept that delays happen, that parcels go missing, that routes change but they expect to be kept informed. Vague or inaccurate updates that are difficult to access or worse, complete at times like these erodes confidence further. And then the problem is compounded in the third stage; slow or disconnected returns and refunds. In a time of instant payments and real time tracking, waiting days or weeks for a refund, with little or no communication, feels out of step with the rest of the experience.
The solution lies in the recognition that the post-purchase experience is part of the brand and reputation is no longer built at the point of sale but in that post-purchase phase. Every delivery update, every delay notification, every return interaction is a brand moment. Customers don’t separate the retailer from the carrier, or the warehouse from customer service. They experience it as one continuous journey and then judge it accordingly. After all, the consumer doesn’t buy from the carrier, so any issues remain firmly at the door of the retailer to resolve.
This is why the reputation gap is so dangerous. Retailers may believe they are delivering a strong experience based on internal KPIs, on time delivery rates, cost per shipment, fulfilment efficiency, but customers are measuring something else entirely – reliability, transparency and ease. Exceptions are where it goes wrong and also add cost for the retailer both financially and reputationally.
Fixing the last mile reputation gap should therefore not be about marginal gains in speed but a change in the way retailers think about the post-purchase experience.
First, it means treating delivery as a customer experience channel, not just an operational process. The same level of attention given to website UX or checkout optimisation must now be applied to tracking pages, notifications and returns journeys.
Second, it requires real time visibility and communication. Customers should never have to chase information so proactive updates, especially when something goes wrong, are essential to maintaining confidence.
Third, it means designing for exceptions. The reality of last mile delivery is that disruptions will occur. The retailers that protect their reputation are those that handle these moments best, turning potential frustration into reassurance.
Finally, it calls for greater ownership of the end to end experience. Retailers cannot outsource accountability for the last mile, even if they outsource the delivery itself. From the customer’s perspective, it is all part of the same promise.
