Online delivery delays putting retailer’s reputation on-the-line

Small businesses are worried delivery delays for online orders are a “bad look”.

One vintage clothing retailer who operates from home is particularly feeling the pressure from the backlog.

Robin Vortanov, founder of Rob’s Vintage, sends orders from his home where physical pickup is not an option.

Although he warns his customers about wait times, he’s still concerned any delays could turn customers away.

“It is a bad look on the business, even though it is completely out of my hands.

“I have had people messaging me asking where orders are because of the delay.”

He tries to stay away from offering a pick-up option to buyers unless he knows the person personally.

He believes there’s not much to be done about the delays.

If online orders were restricted to ease the backlog, his business would suffer even more, he said.

“Putting restrictions on how many parcels we can send may slow things down… it’s just going to be a high volume with delays.”

“Either way it will affect small businesses regardless.”

He said most customers have been pretty understanding, but some are tired of waiting.

Throughout the Covid-19 lockdown, Kiwis were waiting weeks for items that would normally take a week to be delivered.

Couriers have faced immense stress over the past few weeks as online orders soared while retailers’ physical doors were closed under lockdown.

Aircraft engineering issues overnight have caused further disruption to deliveries by Courier Post in the North Island.

A statement issued by the company today said “we are working to have 90% of new parcels in our network delivered within three days across the country.”