For a long time, delivery was treated as a largely operational function within ecommerce.
As long as parcels arrived on time and fulfilment costs remained manageable, many retailers viewed delivery primarily through the lens of logistics and efficiency. The customer experience itself was often seen as ending at the point of purchase, with delivery becoming someone else’s responsibility further down the chain.
That mindset is starting to change quite quickly.
Increasingly, customers view delivery as a direct extension of the brand itself. A smooth delivery experience reinforces trust and confidence, while a poor one can undermine an otherwise positive transaction almost instantly.
That was one of the clearest themes explored during a recent episode of The FODcast, where we sat down with André Sikborn Erixon, VP of Growth at Ingrid, to discuss how delivery experience is evolving and why retailers need to think more strategically about the role it plays within the wider customer journey.
Why delivery experience matters more than ever
One of the more interesting points raised during the conversation was how often delivery still gets categorised purely as a logistics issue rather than a customer experience challenge.
In reality, delivery influences some of the most important moments within the ecommerce journey. It shapes customer expectations before purchase, affects confidence during fulfilment, and often determines how customers feel about the transaction afterwards.
As André discussed, a significant proportion of customer service enquiries continue to centre around delivery updates, tracking, delays, and fulfilment questions. That alone highlights how closely delivery is tied to customer satisfaction.
What feels particularly important is that customers rarely separate the retailer from the delivery experience itself. Even when fulfilment is outsourced to third-party carriers, the perception of the brand remains heavily influenced by what happens after checkout.
That means delivery experience increasingly becomes part of the overall brand experience rather than simply an operational process happening behind the scenes.
Why one-size-fits-all delivery no longer works
Another strong theme throughout the conversation was the growing complexity of customer expectations.
Historically, many retailers focused heavily on speed and cost, assuming customers primarily wanted the fastest and cheapest delivery option available. While that remains important for some shoppers, customer behaviour is becoming far more nuanced.
As André explained, not every customer wants immediate delivery.
Some shoppers prioritise convenience, others value sustainability, while some may prefer to schedule deliveries around work, lifestyle, or specific purchasing needs. A customer ordering DIY materials, for example, may actively choose a later delivery window if it better fits when they plan to complete a project.
That complexity changes how retailers need to think about delivery strategy.
Rather than offering a single standard fulfilment model, businesses increasingly need to provide flexibility and choice across the delivery journey. The retailers managing this best are often those capable of balancing operational efficiency with customer preference, rather than forcing every shopper into the same fulfilment process.
The growing importance of sustainable delivery
Sustainability was another major theme throughout the discussion.
As consumer awareness around environmental impact continues to grow, delivery choices are becoming part of wider purchasing decisions.
Increasingly, some customers actively seek out more sustainable fulfilment options, even if those options are not necessarily the fastest available.
That creates both a challenge and an opportunity for retailers.
The challenge lies in balancing sustainability expectations with customer convenience and operational cost. The opportunity comes from giving customers more transparency and greater control over how orders are fulfilled.
André discussed how alternative delivery methods, including local pickup points and locker systems, are becoming increasingly popular as retailers look for more efficient and environmentally conscious fulfilment models. Consolidated delivery networks can reduce failed deliveries, improve operational efficiency, and lower the environmental impact associated with repeated home delivery attempts.
This reflects a wider shift happening across ecommerce, where sustainability is becoming increasingly embedded into customer experience rather than treated as a separate corporate initiative.
How technology is reshaping post-purchase experience
Another interesting point explored during the conversation was the growing role technology plays in modern delivery experience.
The post-purchase journey has traditionally been one of the least developed parts of ecommerce from a customer experience perspective. Once a transaction was completed, communication often became inconsistent, reactive, or heavily dependent on third-party courier systems.
That is beginning to change.
Technology is allowing retailers to create much more connected and transparent delivery journeys, giving customers greater visibility, more flexibility, and better communication throughout the fulfilment process.
Locker collection systems, smarter tracking capabilities, and more intelligent delivery orchestration are all contributing to a more seamless experience.
In many ways, the post-purchase experience is becoming one of the next major battlegrounds within ecommerce customer experience.
As product ranges, pricing, and front-end experiences become increasingly similar across retailers, fulfilment and delivery increasingly become areas where brands can genuinely differentiate themselves.
The capability challenge behind delivery strategy
One of the wider themes that continues to emerge across digital commerce is the growing overlap between operational strategy and customer experience.
Delivery experience now sits across logistics, technology, customer service, sustainability, ecommerce operations, and brand perception all at once. That means retailers increasingly need teams capable of understanding how operational decisions influence wider customer behaviour and loyalty.
From our perspective, this is another example of how ecommerce challenges are becoming increasingly interconnected. Businesses can no longer afford to think about fulfilment purely through the lens of operational efficiency alone.
The retailers creating the strongest customer experiences are often those capable of combining operational capability with customer understanding, data insight, and long-term strategic thinking.
Final thoughts
What came through clearly in this conversation is that delivery experience is no longer simply the final stage of an ecommerce transaction.
As André highlighted, delivery increasingly shapes customer trust, loyalty, satisfaction, and overall perception of the brand itself. The businesses navigating this best are unlikely to be those simply offering the fastest delivery, but those creating flexible, transparent, and customer-centric experiences throughout the fulfilment journey.
For retailers, that means thinking more strategically about how delivery fits into the wider customer experience, while also building the operational and technological capability required to support increasingly complex customer expectations.
Thank you again to André for sharing his insight and perspective on this topic. If delivery experience or post-purchase strategy is something your business is currently exploring, do listen to the full episode; link below:
