Due to COVID-19, many states and municipalities are encouraging everyone to stay home to prevent the spread of the virus. This is really taking a toll on retail, and many businesses are evaluating what they can do to remain open and continue to serve their customers. One of those options is delivery.But what does it take to begin offering this service to your customers? Consider the who, what, when, where, and how of delivery before proceeding.
Who?
- Who can request delivery?
- Who will do the delivery?
What?
- What items can you offer for delivery?
- What is the cost of delivery? (Will you charge a delivery fee?)
- What information do you need to capture to best serve your customer?
- What kind of delivery will you offer? Contactless?
When?
- When can you begin delivery?
- When will your delivery times be?
Where?
- Where will you offer delivery? (How far from your store will you deliver?
- Where can you leave packages for your customer?
How?
- How will you process payments?
- How do you want the delivery fee to show in Counterpoint? Should it be part of your sales dollars?
- How will you advertise that you are offering delivery?
Setting Up Delivery
Once you have answered those questions, you are ready to start offering delivery services.In addition to those questions, you should capture information about the delivery:
- If taking phone orders for delivery, process credit cards manually while the customer is still on the phone.
- Start small. Offer delivery in the immediate area around your store or to your best customers. If that works well, offer it to a larger circle.
- Capture more information than you think you need. Some suggestions are:
- Address for the delivery
- Contact Person (if applicable)
- Location to leave packages
- Date of requested delivery (might be different than order date)
- Time of day requested for delivery
- Special instructions
If you would like to capture this information within Counterpoint, please contact CP Support by emailing [email protected] or calling (877)-809-9980.
