Belk’s Dedication to Customer Experience & Last-Mile
Providing fast and convenient fulfillment options like same-day delivery is necessary to meet customer expectations. Exceeding them requires going the extra mile to ensure that every interaction with your brand makes customers feel seen and valued.
Department store chain Belk recognized this imperative early on, rolling out same-day delivery in 2020 in partnership with Delivery Solutions.
We spoke with Emily Felix, a Supply Chain Analyst at Belk who oversees their omnichannel fulfillment processes, to learn how they have successfully scaled this offering.
"Belk really prides ourselves on our customer relationships," Emily said. "That's something that we've put on a very high pedestal—to make sure that every person that walks into a Belk store feels like they are comfortable and are being helped how they should be."
Accomplishing this level of customer satisfaction requires a careful combination of people, processes, and technology.
Competing on Customer Experience not Budgets
The rapid increase in demand for last-mile delivery services such as same-day delivery isn’t just an artifact of the Pandemic. Online orders continue to grow, and research estimates that investment in last-mile delivery will top $200 billion in 2027 (a 100% increase since 2020).
While retail giants like Amazon, Walmart, and Target have deep pockets to dig into so they can drive rapid fulfillment, Belk has taken the approach that’s worked for them for nearly 150 years: establishing and nurturing genuine customer relationships.
"We pride ourselves in customer satisfaction and having those relationships," Emily said. "We have a lot of loyal customers who would rather order from Belk and get it a couple of days later than order from Amazon."
That “couple of days later” is not the only option they offer now since implementing Delivery Solutions in 2020. Belk can compete with retail giants and cater to customers with same-day shipping while still maintaining that personal touch.
Their focus on the personal touch goes far beyond last-mile delivery and is a holistic focus for the whole organization.
"Whether [the customer] ordered something online and has to do a return and is calling into a customer service line, or if it is within the store with our associates and there’s that direct customer-facing aspect, that's something that we've put on a very high pedestal of trying to accomplish—to make sure that every person that walks into a Belk store feels like they are comfortable and are being helped how they should be," explained Emily.
Accomplishing that through implementing technology, especially one as logistically complex as same-day delivery, is bound to come with some growing pains.
Iterating and Optimizing for Success
"With every project that you start,” Emily admitted, “there's always going to be those little problems that arise." The most important thing is working with a partner who’s working alongside your team to make any adjustments necessary.
"The Delivery Solutions team has been really good about making sure that we were provided the support that we needed and immediate assistance," said Emily. "That kind of goes for now also — if there's ever an issue from our side, [the Delivery Solutions team] is very quick to act and make sure the issue is either resolved or turned off if needed."
For example, initially, their system inadvertently allocated same-day orders to stores beyond the 20-mile radius that their existing same-day delivery provider network could handle. While these misallocated orders were few, it took collaboration between Belk and the Delivery Solutions team to identify the issue and implement a fix.
Likewise, the Belk team always ensures that the back-end systems support their goal of exceptional customer service, down to which delivery service provider (DSP) gets which orders.
“Let’s say a customer orders an oversized package. We're only gonna pick Roadie for those sorts of orders because we know that they're gonna provide great service, and that package is going to make it there in one piece.”
Emily and the rest of the Belk team also enjoy being able to control the user experience for their customers. "We're able to embed the tracking URL to make it look like it is coming from Belk and not from a third party. It puts that customer-Belk relationship into play." said Emily, “That way, the customer is ‘okay, this is coming from Belk. It's not coming from like Doordash [or some other DSP]. It's just being delivered by this other company, but it's coming from Belk.”
Reimagining Other Aspects of Customer Experience
Going forward, Belk is exploring ways to further enhance the customer experience via creative applications of same-day delivery.
One avenue under consideration is a subscription service akin to Amazon Prime. "A sort of same-day delivery subscription that customers can subscribe to, where they'll get free delivery and just pay a lump sum every month," Emily described. "It is something that would be competing with Amazon, considering it would be same-day."
They're also doubling down on inventory accuracy and availability which is both a huge undertaking and vital for making same-day delivery a seamless experience. "Belk is taking initiative to make sure that we're not allowing a customer to place an order when the inventory isn't there,"said Emily. "From that aspect, RFID is a big project that we're undertaking to ensure the inventory that we have in the system is the same as what's actually in the store."
Their efforts extend to the post-purchase experience as well. Belk has also been having early conversations around streamlining the returns process, which is a notorious pain point for customers.
"From a customer standpoint, if I were to order something and it was as easy as someone coming and picking it back up from my doorstep to return it, it would just be a better experience," Emily reflected. "I'm not having to go out of my way, go back to the store or take it to UPS or FedEx to ship it back to that company."
The Importance of Customer Experience over Everything
Keeping the customer at the heart of every decision and continually iterating on its processes means Belk is well-positioned to thrive for another 135 years. Last-mile delivery will undoubtedly play a crucial part in providing customers with the purchasing experience they prefer.
As Belk’s story shows, implementing a program like this in a scalable fashion requires focused attention, not just adding a couple of DSPs and calling it a day.
As Emily noted from her own experience, “I've gotten packages before where it was thrown around on the back of a truck and it came beat up. Next time I’m considering ordering something, I’m going to think about “‘My package arrived beat up last time. Maybe I want to order from somewhere else.’”
Belk’s dedicated care for customers, packages, and delivery technology is the reason their customers keep coming back.
When your customer journey is smooth, your business thrives. See how Delivery Solutions can make this a reality. Book a demo.
Topics from this blog: Case Studies