Why Estimated Delivery Dates Are Critical in BFCM Retention

When it comes to eCommerce, conversion is key.

If you’re an online seller, you want to make sure that you’re doing everything in your power to eliminate friction and increase conversion rates for your customers. And one way to do that is to provide accurate estimated delivery dates (EDD) to your consumers—before they even make the purchase.

But, without a crystal ball, how can you accurately predict when a shipment will arrive?

It's easy with this magical tool called AfterShip EDD that you can place anywhere from the product detail page to the cart and even checkout. We’ve developed the most accurate EDD prediction engine on the market, which takes into account data from over 4 billion historical shipments to provide dynamic, real-time predictions.

Interested? Read on to learn more about how EDD predictions work, how it benefit businesses, and how you can use them to increase conversion rates and create a better customer experience.

Why is AfterShip EDD available before the purchase?

Crucially, AfterShip EDD's widget displays the estimated delivery date to the customer before they make the purchase.

This allows your customers to know when they can expect their purchase to arrive, so they can plan accordingly. For instance, if someone is buying a birthday present, they will want to know that it will arrive on time, or if they are buying an item for a special event, they need to know that it will arrive in time for the event.

Pre-purchase EDD is different from post-purchase EDD in a few key ways:

1. Pre-purchase EDD takes into account the customer’s location. This is because different carriers have different cut-off times for shipments, and transit times can vary based on the customer’s location.

For instance, if a customer in New York City is buying an item from a seller in Los Angeles, the transit time will be different than if the customer was in Los Angeles and the seller was in New York City.

2. Pre-purchase EDD also takes into account the current delivery performance of the carrier. This is important because carriers’ on-time delivery rates can vary based on a number of factors, such as weather, traffic, and accidents.

By taking into account the current delivery performance of the carrier, we can provide a more accurate EDD prediction.

3. Pre-purchase EDD takes into account holidays. This is important because many carriers do not deliver on weekends or holidays.

Plus, during peak seasons like Christmas and Hanukkah, carriers are often overwhelmed with shipments, which can cause delays.

By taking into account holidays, we can provide a more accurate EDD prediction.

How does AfterShip’s pre-purchase EDD work?

AfterShip’s pre-purchase EDD is powered by our proprietary Artificial Intelligence (AI) engine, which takes into account data from over 4 billion historical shipments to provide dynamic, real-time predictions. Plus, AfterShip processes 3 million shipments daily. So AfterShip AI continuously captures the trend on specific routes and carriers' delivery performance.

Our AI engine powers the following features:

• EDD prediction in single date or date range: With AfterShip Predict, you can display either a single date or a date range for the estimated delivery date. The single date is the most likely delivery date, while the date range is the start and end of the delivery window.
• Dynamic prediction based on the actual origin location and the destination location: The delivery prediction is more accurate as our AI engine captures the data of the specific route. You can also display the different predictions for different products in the cart as the delivery depends on the original location of each product.
• Prediction based on the specific carrier and service selected: The EDD is more accurate as our AI engine knows the historical performance of that carrier on that service.
• Predictions that automatically adjust for holidays: Our AI engine takes into account holidays, so you don’t have to worry about them, and how they may impact the delivery of your shipments.

This is a huge advantage over other pre-purchase EDD solutions on the market, which often rely on carrier SLA alone. This can lead to inaccurate predictions and frustrated customers.

How EDD benefit businesses?

Offering a pre-purchase EDD can benefit your business in a few ways.

First, it builds trust with your customers by giving them accurate information about when they can expect their purchase to arrive. For instance, if a customer knows they need their purchase by a certain date, they can make sure to place their order well in advance if the pre-purchase EDD is longer than they would like.

Second, it can help you avoid shipping delays and disappointed customers. This is because customers will have realistic expectations about when their purchase will arrive, so they are less likely to be surprised or disappointed if there is a delay.

Finally, offering a pre-purchase EDD can help you stand out from your competition. This is because not all businesses offer this service, so it can give you a competitive advantage.

If you're looking for a way to improve your customer satisfaction scores and build trust with your customers, AfterShip's pre-purchase EDD is a great solution.

Getting started with pre-purchase EDD

In just a few steps, you can give your customers access to AfterShip EDD's pre-purchase EDD predictions. Here are some simple steps.

For Shopify Users

You can use the AI Predictive EDD widget to get analytics and insights into your Shopify store in less than a minute! Simply add the AfterShip app from the Shopify App Store, and you're ready to go.

Once you have that, you'll gain access to additional features powering the widget, including:

• EDD widget display on your Product Page
• Powerful rule engine: this allows you to define different rules like carrier service, additional processing time, special pick-up date, and more
• Inventory quantity validation: AI predicts the EDD based on your warehouse with available inventory
• Order processing time: You can set order cut-off time and distribution center working days.

Once set up, your customers will see an estimated delivery date on your product pages, so they can make informed decisions about when to place their orders.

For Non-Shopify Users

If your store is not built on Shopify, you can use the AfterShip AI Predictive EDD API to get the prediction result and display it wherever you want.

This API was built to be a scalable solution that can handle millions of requests during peak seasons. And the best part—it's super easy to integrate!

Whether you are a Shopify user or not, AfterShip's pre-purchase EDD solution can help you improve customer satisfaction and build trust with your customers. By utilizing the power of artificial intelligence, you can offer accurate predictions about transit times and estimated delivery dates.

Now, your customers can make informed decisions about when to place their orders, which can lead to happier customers and more sales for your business.

Happy predicting!