Online shopping is addicting but the popular hobby is facing a big test amid changing trends and economic turmoil. How can brands meet consumer expectations and tackle supply chain complexity?

New data from Körber’s 2023 ‘State of Shipping and Returns’ report has revealed that 90 per cent of consumers are less likely to buy from a brand again after a poor online shopping experience.

The research also showed 70 per cent of consumers are having experienced a delayed online order in the last six months.

To address how to tackle supply chain complexity to help remedy these issues and meet consumer expectations – and drive future business success – more than 200 industry leaders from Australia, New Zealand, India, China and the United States met at Körber’s annual flagship conference Elevate APAC 2023 in Melbourne last week (2-3 May).  

Anthony Beavis, Managing Director, ANZ. Image: Körber

The ‘State of Shipping and Returns’ survey announced at Elevate APAC 2023 gathered insights from 2,200 consumer across eight global regions (Australia, UK, Germany, France, US, Canada, Mexico and Brazil) on their post-purchase experience between the moment they click the ‘buy’ button and when the product reaches their doorstep.

Additional findings showed that over a third (35%) of respondents who experienced delays were not provided with a reason.

With speed and convenience driving online purchase decisions, the impact of these delays on customer satisfaction and subsequent brand loyalty is significant.

 How can businesses best adapt to the post-pandemic supply chain world?

Körber leadership team, customers and other industry thought leaders, including McKinsey and Company, Accenture, Super Retail Group and Zebra gathered under the event theme of ‘Find Your Rhythm’ to tackle this very question.

Körber’s annual flagship conference Elevate APAC 2023 in Melbourne. Image: Körber

Darren O’Connor, Körber’s Director of Solution Delivery says it all starts with the consumer and ensuring satisfaction across the online shopping experience is critical.

A key insight discussed at the conference was new thinking and tools focused on gamification as a way to transform a disengaged warehouse operation workforce to an engaged workflow, positively impacting businesses.

Innovations include the launch of Körber’s ‘Robotics-as-a-Service (Raas) for e-fulfilment offering for APAC customers, providing simple access to a global network of robotics service partners for every business size and industry as well as Körber’s new warehouse Unified Control System (UCS). The UCS will orchestrate AMR, people-driven workflows and classic automation systems to boost throughput and productivity, and its Order Management System (OMS), enabling order visibility across channels and actionable data.

Körber’s annual flagship conference Elevate APAC 2023 in Melbourne. Image: Körber

Actionable steps

A vital keynote from John Laing, Senior Expert from McKinsey and Company on the role of Industry 4.0, and how actionable steps – including how prepositioning inventory close to the consumer to reduce delivery times, end-to-end supply chain transparency and advanced analytics to improve forecast accuracy through the supply chain – can help safeguard against economic challenges and future-proof supply chains.

Anthony Beavis, Managing Director, ANZ from Körber says the company were delighted to be able to come together in-person with customers and other industry leaders to learn from each other and “shine a light on some of the new solutions we can offer our customers”.

“As the first in-person flagship conference for Körber down under, the conference demonstrated how the APAC region will be a major focus for our future, and the investment we are making here to support that.”