by LEXINGTON, N.C. — Deliveright, the company behind the leading AI-powered logistics and delivery platform Grasshopper, released new research that highlights how profoundly the country’s biggest furniture retailers are struggling to meet consumer expectations when it comes to delivery. After analyzing all furniture reviews from the online reviews platform Trustpilot for a number of the Top 10 furniture retailers (469 reviews over a four-month period), Deliveright found that 26% of all reviews mention the delivery experience, and 75% of those reviews mentioning delivery are negative.
This data underlines the critical importance delivery plays in overall customer satisfaction and sentiment toward a brand, even when customer expectations around factors like price and quality are being met. According to PWC, 40% of consumers are likely to switch brands if their items arrive late. PWC also reports that proof-of-delivery (83%), easy-to-use tracking (80%) and flexible delivery times (68%) are top priorities for consumers, underscoring the importance of the delivery experience to customer loyalty and satisfaction.
“As technology continues to remake logistics, today’s consumers expect top-of-the-line delivery experiences from the moment they place their order to the moment it arrives,” says Deliveright CEO and co-founder Doug Ladden. “Our research found that one in five reviews mentions a negative delivery experience, with some consumers vowing to never shop at a retailer again due to poor experiences. In contrast, we’ve found that when a customer has full visibility into the shipping process and gets true white-glove service, their overall satisfaction and brand loyalty improve — and furniture companies have fewer costly returns to manage.”
To conduct the research, Deliveright selected four of the largest retailers in the U.S. and analyzed the reviews posted from June 1, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2023. The reviews mention variables including customer service, quality of product, in-store experience, delivery time, interactions with delivery drivers, white-glove delivery experience, and ease of scheduling and tracking shipment. Common complaints among the reviews that mention delivery include long delays, incorrect tracking information, damaged furniture and missing orders.
The following chart highlights the impact that negative delivery experiences have on overall company ratings, broken down by retailer:
| Retailer | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Average # of Stars on Trustpilot (5 = Best) | 4.6 | 3.7 | 1.5 | 1.1 |
| % of Reviews that Mention Delivery | 9.8% | 34.7% | 58.8% | 75.8% |
| % of Delivery Reviews that are Negative | 34.5% | 68.0% | 85.0% | 98.0% |
| Delivery Misery Index* | 3.4% | 23.6% | 50.0% | 74.3% |
“The data show a clear connection between delivery experience and retailers’ overall ratings. It is not a surprise that companies with the highest overall ratings have the lowest Delivery Misery Index scores, which measure dissatisfaction with delivery experience, and vice versa. In many cases delivery issues likely could have been prevented with better technology,” says Ladden. “While most consumers expect flawless delivery experiences, companies that sell big and bulky items are still struggling in this area due to outdated systems and processes. That’s why Deliveright was created: to solve final-mile, heavy-goods delivery challenges. Our top priority is to ensure that our customers can provide best-in-class delivery service supported by industry leading technology.”
To learn more about Deliveright, visit www.deliveright.com. To view the research data, contact deliveright@qh-pr.com.
