How Online Retailers Profit from Making Customers Wait?

What, in your opinion, is the most significant aspect in determining customer satisfaction when making an online purchase? The possibility of obtaining the order as quickly as possible will almost certainly cross all of our minds at least once. Nothing may certainly instill greater satisfaction than receiving what you recently bought in a short period of time. On the other hand, have you ever wondered why online companies will postpone shipments when it is obvious that this will disappoint the customer? As a result, this Chicago Booth Review article focuses on how online retailers profit from making customers wait to explain the scenario.

According to the article, effectively fulfilling client orders and shipping them from the correct place at the appropriate time might result in significant savings. The article suggests that one strategy for capturing these savings is a small delay between the time a consumer completes a purchase and the time the goods are actually chosen from the shelf and packaged for shipment. However, the article implies that a theoretical foundation has not still been established to explain how and why this practice makes sense. Yet, researchers have discovered that the potential savings can be attributed to greater knowledge of future demand. This implies that when a corporation waits to fulfill a customer’s purchase, it learns more about other orders as they arrive. The article explains how online retailers profit from making customers wait. During the delay, as more orders arrive, retailers can categorize the same items and then decide whether to outsource the items from a local warehouse or a preferably farther one to reduce shipment costs. However, the article emphasizes that while longer delays provide greater savings, the marginal benefit decreases. Furthermore, businesses cannot delay indefinitely; excessively long wait times clog warehouses and irritate customers. As a result, the article proposes that businesses seek a balance. 

Despite how absurd it may appear to make a customer wait, research suggests that online retailers profit from making customers wait. This is demonstrated in the section before.