Express delivery shows Showpo’s commitment to their customers

Online fashion retail phenomenon, Showpo, launched with two shelves in a garage in 2010. Today, Showpo is one of Australia’s fastest-growing online fashion retailers with revenue more than doubling to $85 million between 2017 and 2019. Its product range and warehouse space requirements have grown just as dramatically.

Online shopping can feel high stakes, especially for an important segment of Showpo’s customers: brides and bridesmaids. For this milestone occasion, the pressure is on to find the perfect dress. To help these women keep wedding dress stress at bay, Showpo offers flexible and fast shipping, and easy returns.

“Our customers want to shop quickly and conveniently, so we’ve introduced an on-demand service that covers almost half Australia,” says Showpo’s Logistics and Fulfilment Manager, Danny Efendi. “Customers in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide can receive their order within just four hours or on the same business day.”

“This means we help customers when they really need us – for example bridesmaids who need to get the same dress style, or wedding guests who need an outfit in a short amount of time. It can be a really stressful time so we’re happy to do what we can to help reduce the pressure.”

In addition, Showpo offers twilight deliveries within Sydney, so eligible customers can receive their purchase at home between 6pm and 9pm. “About 25% of our on-demand deliveries are evening deliveries and this is incredibly convenient for the customer.”

Making free, fast shipping and returns as easy as possible

When Showpo decided to offer free express shipping for orders over $50 five years ago, it increased its cart conversion dramatically. “That has been evident in our year-on-year growth in the last five years,” says Danny.

In that time, Showpo has gone from a $20m company to an $85m company with a team of 40 in a new 4,700sqm of space close to Australia Post’s Chullora site. Danny attributes a large part of that growth to free express shipping for orders over $50.

The Showpo team is also dedicated to making the shopping and shipping experience as seamless as possible for the customer in efforts to build trust and improve cart conversion. According to Danny, this includes exploring ways to improve their UX design and implement transparent, easy-to-understand shipping and returns processes.

“You always have to give customers clear information, and the option and ability to change their mind,” says Danny. “Launching our returns portal has also helped free up valuable customer service time. The number of returns queries has dropped so we know it’s doing well.”

Setting new standards in delivery expectations

When asked whether flexible delivery options set Showpo apart from its competitors, Danny doesn’t hesitate - “I think we’re one of the market leaders in terms of logistics.”

Sydneysiders can enjoy four-hour delivery, twilight delivery and same-day delivery on Saturdays for eligible orders. Danny points out that Showpo is also one of the first retailers to do same-day interstate shipping for eligible orders from Sydney to Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide.

“We have a strong fulfilment team and a robust warehouse management system that ensures we fulfil all orders within the specific cut-offs,” explains Danny. Parcels are picked up four times a day and orders taken until 11pm with the last pick-up at midnight.

Showpo also sells to Canada, New Zealand, the US, the UK and Europe and offers express shipping to customers abroad, ensuring they receive their order within a few business days.

Embracing social and new tech for business growth

Social marketing has been one of the pillars of Showpo’s success. When it launched a model search on Facebook, the number of Showpo followers swelled from 3,000 to 20,000. Now with 1.65million followers on Instagram, it has well and truly solidified itself as a fashion favourite within its demographic.

“We’ve always seen technology as a great tool for growing and improving our business. We were one of the first companies to really use social media to market our products organically,” says Danny. “We’re always willing to try new things if it means a better outcome for our customers.”

One of his next goals is to offer same-day shipping for eligible orders to every major metro city in Australia. “In the future we’d love to be able to provide Perth, Darwin and Hobart customers with same-day deliveries. We’re working hard with Australia Post to achieve that, so watch this space.”

Showpo has seen enormous success from making smart decisions around shipping. Putting customer needs first has always been the secret to Showpo’s success, and that includes meeting and exceeding expectations for delivery. And the results speak for themselves.