To meet convenience demand.
Harvey Norman has teamed up with Australian logistics start-up, Shippit, to become the first major retailer to offer a three-hour delivery option in major cities across Australia. The retailer also launched the Harvey Norman Click and Collect app on Tuesday, which enables customers to receive notifications during the delivery process and track their order.
Enabled by Shippit’s proprietary technology, the partnership allows customers to select a three-hour delivery window between 7am-10pm weekdays. The delivery option has been integrated into the payment screen and costs are determined by the time of the day customers would like their products to arrive.
Customers can also track their parcel online in real time through SMS and email alerts and have the option to reschedule or reroute the delivery after the purchase has been made.
Harvey Norman chief digital officer Gary Wheelhouse (pictured above) told Appliance Retailer, “Our aim is to solve real-world problems for our customers and our research showed that they wanted more convenience. We are now providing more options at the check-out and our trial store experienced an increase in business thanks to the three hour delivery window.”
The delivery option is currently available for small appliances, consumer electronics and small goods. However, Wheelhouse said that there is high demand for purchasing large goods online so once the logistics have been put in order the company will look at expanding its product offering for this delivery option.
“We will also look at how we can expand our service beyond the major cities,” he said.
Shippit joint-CEO, Rob Hango-Zada added, “Our experience from working with hundreds of retailers across Australia is that our service really is one of a kind. In the case of Harvey Norman, what appealed most was the standout shipping experience our platform could offer their customers.”
“We also worked with the retailer to co-develop a ship from store dispatch process that literally strips hours of wasted time from the whole shipping process for store staff,” he said.