Delivering the Goods

     
Competition is fierce as retailers continue to look for ways to appeal to consumers and satisfy their needs. One company is providing retailers a competitive edge through high-speed delivery service that includes technical installation or assembly in the customer’s home.

Manna Distribution Services is the nation’s leading home delivery carrier for flat-screen TVs, major appliances, furniture, mattresses and home gyms. The company delivers to all zip codes via a network of local delivery agents, and has used its narrow market focus and company-developed technologies to achieve double-digit annual growth each of the past five years, according to senior vice president Robert Masters. “We believe speed in transit increases sales for those companies that offer it,” he says.

Manna’s high-speed model was developed when company founders discovered a hole in the retail transit market. “Back then, the notion was that you ordered something from a catalog or over the Internet, paid for it, then waited,” Masters says. “Our biggest competitor when we started was offering 14- to 21-day delivery. We developed our own market position around a three- to five-day transit.”

Customers who wait more than five days for merchandise to be delivered are more likely to return the product, Masters says, pointing to company research. If a delivered product has to be assembled, returns go up 14 percent. Because of this, the distribution company works with installers so that items like wall-mounted TVs can be set up upon delivery or soon thereafter.
Another given: The more customers spend, the more likely they are to want their items faster, something Manna has incorporated into its business model. Masters cites the company’s 26 percent growth in 2009 — without the addition of employees or layoffs during the recession — as proof the model is working.

Moving on up
Edison, N.J.-based Beach Camera is a comprehensive source for all things electronic, from home theater components to GPS navigators. Most customers shop the company’s website for the latest gadgets, while some visit the 7,000-sq.-ft. showroom. The company has used Manna Distribution to deliver its products since late 2004. Charlie Jearolmen, Beach Camera’s vice president of sales and marketing, estimates Manna delivered just over 25,000 transactions for his company in 2009.

“We chose to use Manna Distribution because the typical internet shopper expects a fast delivery,” Jearolmen says. “The whole Internet model is about speed—you can sit in front of your fireplace, do the research, do cost comparisons and buy an HDTV in less time than it would take to drive around and shop, and with a lot less hassle. But you don’t want to wait weeks for it to be delivered.”

Manna’s “white glove” delivery is important to many of Beach Camera’s customers. “Manna brings the item into the room of the shopper’s choice, unpacks it, plugs it in and makes sure it’s working, then takes away the mess,” Jearolmen says.

Beach is proud of customer feedback regarding delivery service. “We get positive comments from customers all the time, telling us how happy they are with the whole delivery service,” Jearolmen says. “The sale is not final until the product is delivered and the customer is satisfied that he has gotten a fair deal, maybe even a great deal. That is what we want him to brag about.”

Coordinated speed
To coordinate its high-speed service, Manna has been developing its own software since 1992. “Everything to manage customer service, routing and carrier choices is handled through internally written web-based customer and supplier interfaces,” Masters says. The Clarity supply chain visibility tool, Manna’s own web-based application, is used for online order entry as well as order tracking and reporting.

Company statistics show that 56 percent of Manna’s deliveries are scheduled electronically through the company’s ScheduleMyDelivery.com, which allows buyers to choose the most convenient date and time. Currently, 28 percent of Manna shipments require no customer service or operational involvement beyond drivers and delivery personnel, and 98 percent are delivered on time.

When Beach Camera sells a product online, the product is pulled from its inventory and Manna Distribution picks up the purchase on its daily run to the retailer’s New Jersey warehouse. “Once we have the product on our truck, Beach sends us an electronic file saying, ‘We’re shipping this today,’” Masters says. “So, within two hours of purchasing the product, the customer receives an e-mail inviting him to come to ScheduleMyDelivery.com.”

The customer’s product is loaded onto a tractor trailer headed toward its destination city, arriving within 72 hours. Each time the product is transferred to another vehicle along its route, a message is transmitted through Clarity, allowing the customer to “see where the product is,” Masters says.

An agent calls the customer on the morning of the scheduled delivery, detailing whether the delivery will be toward the beginning or end of a four-hour window. The driver then calls the customer 30 minutes prior to delivery. “Our drivers are always friendly, always on time,” Masters says. “It is our policy that if we are late for a delivery, so as not to inconvenience the customer, the customer is allowed to name a new date and time for delivery and we will honor it, including weekends and off-hours.”

“The fact that we maintain contact with the customer from the minute we have the product in our possession until they receive it reduces returns,” he says. “Otherwise, customers feel anxiety when there is no contact and they feel they have no control over receipt of their ordered item.”