Do Customers Really Want Two-Day Delivery?

For millennials and Gen Z, instant gratification through digital experiences encapsulates their world—anything to the contrary comes from those who lived before them, and what history tells.  

The shopping experience has evolved too, from brick-and-mortar to omnichannel retailers, giving people the ability to buy products where they feel most comfortable.  

But with the added conveniences online shopping options offer, high-pressure demand for quick-turn order fulfillment has led to two-day delivery expectations. The question is, is it really sustainable or just a consumer-preference myth? 

What’s Driving Two-Day Delivery Expectations 

Instant gratification is now a guideline for online customer experiences. We measure popularity, trends, and business success through data, likes, and ongoing online engagement, preferably in real-time.  

You might wonder, does the internet drive human behavior or does human behavior drive the internet? The answer is both, at a cost. 

Through AI-driven technologies, human interface feeds digital intuitiveness; and in response, digitization feeds people’s behaviors. Ultimately, the power of ecommerce soars when each run parallel, allowing shifts and responses to remain on course.  

And two-day delivery for product orders continues to be the light at the end of the online sales funnel; however, changes in consumers’ financial and ethical perspectives could upend that belief.   

What Matters to Ecommerce Shoppers Most  

Ecommerce research firm ECDB surveyed online shopping behaviors across multiple age groups. Their findings highlighted free delivery as more important than the time it takes to receive a product. 

So, how important is two-day delivery? According to the survey participants, 62% preferred same-day or next-day delivery. But would they be just as satisfied with two-day delivery?  

Defining ‘Fast’  

Once an ecommerce brand catches the attention of customers, they search, think, and click on products to purchase, storing them in their shopping cart. That’s where value-adds or abandonments happen.  

Let’s turn the scenario your way, as a consumer. If there’s a special occasion coming up in 10 days, and you need the perfect little black dress or tailored shirt to ensure you show up in style, how much risk are you willing to take once you find it?  

Here are some of the variables that come to mind during an online purchase: 

• Delivery time vs. delivery cost 

• Delivery time vs. return cost 

• Delivery time vs. product quality 

• Product quality vs. product cost 

• Delivery cost vs. return cost 

Each of the above comparisons brings a value and a risk.   

For example, how much time are you willing to wait for the order to appear at your doorstep? How much do you trust the product will be just as it is on the brand’s website? Because if it isn’t, you’ll have less time to find the right product and less time available to ship it. In the long run, it could cost you more, and there’s still a return to deal with. 

Although the majority of ecommerce customers prefer a 36-hour-or-less delivery window, a two-day timeline could be more reality than myth if:   

1) customers believe two days is fast enough, and  

2) there were other wins given to the customer for their patience. 

Ecommerce giant Amazon is testing this theory with a completely new offering.

Two-Day Delivery May Have Met Its Match   

The ecommerce trendsetter Amazon recently launched a new online platform, Haul. The shopping app targets the “Tik-Tok” audience who favor ultra-low-priced brands from the global marketplace. 

Similar to China’s Temu and Shein selling points, Haul offers imported home goods, tech, clothing, and other products priced below $20, with a catch—the delivery promise is two weeks or less.  

With new U.S. tariffs, inexpensive goods from overseas could be hard to come by. Even if Haul’s offerings experience cost increases that are passed down to their customers, it’s a gateway to testing longer delivery times, potentially changing consumer expectations and the ecommerce industry.  

If it happens, two-day shipping looks pretty good. 

Longer Delivery Is More Sustainable

Consumer consciousness is changing, and corporate culture can have a hand in brand success. Global brands like Starbuck’s, Patagonia, and Estee Lauder, to name a few, operate to a higher standard by making sustainability a core commitment.  

Choosing ingredients, materials, equipment, and technologies that improve their carbon footprints supports healthy and safe practices and generates feel-good brand experiences customers are proud to be part of. 

Ecommerce retailers can adopt similar practices in the packing, storing, and shipping of their products. Seek warehousing and logistics companies that have recyclable packaging options or operate in facilities with smart systems—eliminating waste and reducing energy consumption. 

Offering customers two-day delivery can be positioned as one part of a larger ecosystem. Extending order-to-fulfillment timelines gives logistics companies the flexibility to find more efficient modes of transit, reducing emission output. Larger loads with longer end-delivery dates require less trucks.    

There are technology companies committed to net-zero logistics solutions too. Innovative start-ups like Nuro are designing autonomous driverless electric vehicles, for more sustainable last-mile deliveries.  

Oh, the Difference Two Days Can Make  

Maybe you’re familiar with the sales adage: Don’t overpromise and underdeliver. For ecommerce businesses and omnichannel brands, there’s a lot of truth to it, literally.   

According to ecommerce consultants Econsultancy: 

• 69% of online customers may not be repeat customers if their order is delivered two days or more after the date promised 

• 38% of online shoppers leave their shopping carts if delivery is longer than seven days, but  

• Only 8% bail on their pending purchase if it’s three days or less from order-to-door  

Demanding customers help ecommerce brands identify operational gaps and opportunities and envision what’s possible. 

How to Make Two-Day Shipping Seamless  

With all the potential changes coming to ecommerce affecting costs and the customer experience, having your online ducks in a row is essential.  

Don’t be afraid to dig into your processes, tech stack, and warehousing and logistics capabilities. With a two-day turnaround, there isn’t much time for inefficiencies at any point of the fulfillment cycle.  

When you set your mind to making improvements, it’s a chance to include your staff and ask for their opinions on how to make two-day delivery a trusted go-to solution. The collaboration can bring great ideas to the floor and increase worker morale. 

Some of the strategies WSI relies on have made significant differences to our customers, transforming their productivity for greater cost-savings, enabling scalability. WSI approaches fulfillment and shipping by being: 

• Solutions-focused 

• Customer-centric 

• Autonomous 

• Transparent 

• Authentic 

By working with a 3PL partner that has integrated warehouse management and inventory management systems, it takes the guesswork out of having enough product to meet two-day delivery requests.  

And with automated data and reporting systems providing real-time visibility from shopping cart to storage, and distribution to end-delivery, fulfillment happens with multi-layered support.  

Two-Day Delivery You Can Rely On  

If fast delivery is a competitive edge your customers count on, WSI can make it happen. Our wide network of distribution centers gives you more options to store and locate product and fulfill orders in a pinch.  

You don’t take promises made to your customers lightly. Neither do we. When you get more from your 3PL, you deliver more to your customers.