Early order cut-offs killing eCommerce sales, finds Zendbox

Offering a late order cut-off is a major competitive advantage, proven to increase eCommerce conversion rates, customer loyalty, and revenue, finds Zendbox, a leading provider of eCommerce fulfilment services. After learning that 35% of online orders are placed between 4pm and 9pm, the 3PL has recently introduced a 10pm order cut-off time, helping merchants offer next-day delivery to more consumers. As a result, clients have experienced an average conversion rate increase of 15%.

James Khoury, founder and CEO of Zendbox, added: “After analysing the eCommerce SMEs, and major brands that work with us, we have discovered that merchants who don’t offer late order cut-off times, are missing out on order conversions, and experiencing higher customer acquisition costs (CAC).”

“Typically, it is difficult for many eCommerce businesses to offer late order cut-off times, as this requires robust technology, fulfilment warehouse infrastructure, and carrier partnerships. Most 3PL providers offer cut-off times between 12pm and 3pm, and many online brands fulfilling orders in-house have even earlier cut-off times. For the average consumer, this simply isn’t good enough.”

Complete Strength founder, Rob Whitfield, has acquired new customers thanks to Zendbox’s 10pm order cut-off time, adding: “The majority of our orders will come in of an evening. When we had an earlier cut-off time, we missed out on sales. Now we’ve got a later cut-off time with Zendbox, we get less abandoned carts. We have also noticed customers are shopping with us simply because of the later cut-off time.”

Zendbox works with leading brands including PRIME, USN, Puresport, and fourfive. Processing over three million orders in 2023, Zendbox connects eCommerce businesses’ sales channels, such as Shopify, eBay, and Amazon, with Zendportal, Zendbox’s virtual warehousing, inventory analysis & management technology. This helps retailers streamline their business operations, giving them greater visibility of their supply chain activity.