Skip to content
Press

Ab sofort bei OTTO: Stundengenaue Liefervorhersage

The e-commerce retailer OTTO is now able to tell its customers more precisely about when their order is expected to arrive with an accuracy of within two to four hours.

11/26/2015 Editor Frank Surholt
OTTO customers have always been able to see the expected delivery time when placing their order, such as ‘on stock – delivery in 2-3 working days’. Now when customers order an article, they are emailed a precise expected delivery time slot when the article is dispatched, like ‘Delivered by Hermes; expected delivery time slot: Monday 23.11.15 between 10am and 1pm’.

If the delivery is ever delayed for unexpected reasons, the customer is kept up to date: one glance at the user account gives the customer the latest delivery status at any time. The customer can also inquire about the expected delivery time slot by phoning the OTTO Service Center.

This makes OTTO the first German e-commerce retailer to communicate such service information directly to its customers itself. The expected delivery time slot is currently over 90% accurate – a figure that will be further improved upon in the coming weeks.

Since the start of November, OTTO has also provided customers with an expected delivery time slot for large immediate-delivery items such as furniture, fridges, ovens and washing machines. When placing an order, the customer can choose from three time slots on a particular day depending on availability. This service incurs no additional charge on top of the delivery charge for goods delivered using a freight forwarder. On the day of delivery, the customer can track the parcel live on a map so he or she knows exactly where the order is and when it will arrive. The advantage for customers: no more waiting at home or taking time off – all they need to do is just take receipt of the delivery when it suits them. “Behind this service lies technology which OTTO developed together with HES (Hermes Einrichtungs Service). Customers are shown available delivery slots in realtime on otto.de. Time slots ranging from two working days all the way through to 14 days in advance – including Saturdays – can be booked right from when the order is placed”, explains Thomas Steck, Director of Customer Service & Logistics at OTTO.

Currently, around a third of OTTO customers can use this new service, with Germany-wide availability to be rolled-out in 2016.

Tags in this article: