We benchmarked the top 100 online retailers and show you what makes them successful — and how to bring your store up to top level.
As an online retailer, you face decisions every day and probably ask yourself questions like:
How do I optimize my shop so more visitors actually buy?
How do I create the best possible delivery experience?
What really matters to my customers?
What is my competition doing, and how can I stand out?
We've got the answers. We'll walk you through several strategies and quick wins to help you outperform the lion's share of the top 100 online retailers. With simple steps and the right decisions, you can carve out a real competitive advantage. We've also put together some recommendations that even the top 100 online retailers haven't implemented yet.
The following insights are based on the parcelLab "Versandhandelsstudie 2023" — the post-purchase experience of the top 100 online retailers from 2022 was put under the microscope. What do the top 100 players in the market do differently, and why are they successful?
Today, your customers want a say. They expect a choice of different shipping options and carriers at checkout.
The advantage of offering only one or just a few carriers is that you bundle your shipping volume with one or two providers. That puts you in a stronger position at the negotiation table and you'll typically secure better rates. But because you're working with a fulfillment provider, you already benefit from preferential rates. Shipping rates are negotiated based on the entire fulfillment site's volume. That makes it possible for you to offer multiple carriers while keeping your costs low. The sweet spot is to offer 3 carriers in standard shipping — e.g. DHL, GLS, and UPS. The 4th option would be next-day delivery or express shipping.
The biggest converter — or non-converter — at checkout is delivery time.
In recent years especially, the bar for fast delivery has been raised, and the windows have been getting shorter. You're competing with major marketplaces that sometimes offer same-day or next-day delivery. While same-day delivery isn't strictly necessary right now, 11% of users always want express delivery (24-48h) and 48% want it sometimes (parcelLab Verbraucherstudie 2020).
Only four out of ten top online retailers offer express shipping, even though most customers want it. So if you offer an express shipping option in your shop, you're already ahead of 60% of the top online retailers. But what surcharge should you ask for next-day delivery?
As you just learned, only around 40% of the top online retailers offer express shipping. They charge a clear premium for it. Costs range from €4.99 to €19.99.
If you offer an express shipping option cheaper than €4.99, you have a more affordable next-day delivery option than at least 85.7% of the top online retailers. But how can pricing differ that much?
Classic express shipping is comparatively very expensive. With DHL Express, for example, you'd pay between €11-12 with a mid-sized shipping volume. Some retailers absorb part of the cost on express shipping to offer their customers this option at the lowest possible price, with the goal of boosting their conversion rate and amortizing the high shipping costs.
But isn't there a way to offer reliable 1-day delivery without taking on the high cost of classic express shipping? We have a solution, but before we get to it, let's look at standard shipping.
The cost of standard shipping can tip the scales between your customer buying or backing out. That's why it's essential to run an optimal pricing strategy on standard shipping.
Let's first look at the base price for standard shipping:
Apart from 5.6%, the top online retailers charge a fee for shipping — at least up to a certain order value. The lion's share charges a base price of at least €2.00 for standard shipping, but more often above €4.00.
A well-known lever to incentivize customers to order more is setting a minimum order value (MOV) for free shipping:
The sweet spot for your pricing strategy is to charge a base price of €1.99 for standard shipping — that's cheaper than 91% of top online retailers — and offer free shipping above an order value of €29.99. Only 22.5% of the top online retailers offer free standard shipping above €29.99. That puts your pricing strategy right at the top (or right at the bottom — depending on how you look at it).
But price isn't the only deciding factor in shipping. Today, communicating your delivery times clearly matters more than ever.
As you already know, your customers really want their order to arrive as quickly as possible — ideally the very next day.
Despite this, the average delivery time among the top 100 online retailers is 2.7 business days. Only 7.1% of the audited online retailers delivered orders within 1 business day.
76.5% of retailers land at a delivery time of 2-3 business days. Even with same-day shipping, you'll only achieve middling delivery times in standard shipping without further optimization. The significant sweet spot is being 1 day faster than your competition. If you offer reliable next-day delivery, you'll leave the masses behind and join the 7.1%.
But it's not just delivery speed — communicating a delivery day or delivery window also leads to higher conversion rates and less post-purchase frustration.
A transparent display of delivery times for your shipping options sets the tone and the expectations for all subsequent customer communication.
Not even one in three of the top 100 online retailers shows a concrete delivery date — even though Amazon, the biggest E-Commerce player, has been doing it for years and we just need to follow suit. That opens up another opportunity to be better than your competition: show a concrete delivery date in your shop, ideally the next business day!
Now we've kept you in suspense long enough. We promised you a solution to offer 1-day delivery without taking on the cost of classic express shipping. That — and much more — is Europe's first Prime equivalent across all sales channels: Zenrush®
Download our free e-book and grab all the best practices and recommendations for your E-Commerce success.
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