“Anyone can print a shipping label these days,” a retail executive told Steve Allen, Sorted’s Dealership Principal, during conversations at RetailJam 2025. “What customers actually want is to never have to call us in the first place.”
That observation, shared by multiple retailers at the event, reveals a fundamental shift happening in post-purchase logistics. Steve heard this sentiment repeatedly in corridor conversations and roundtable discussions – retailers acknowledging that the era of competing on basic shipping functionality is over. The new battleground? Delivery orchestration that prevents customer problems before they start.
The RetailJam consensus emphasised that the key to gaining a competitive advantage is not only in integrating with carriers and generating shipping labels, but in preventing customer delivery anxiety. The focus is on managing the entire post-purchase experience smoothly, encouraging customers to transition from purchase to advocacy without any doubt.
What’s driving the commoditisation of shipping services?
The logistics industry has achieved something remarkable: it’s made complex global shipping feel effortless. APIs generate labels in milliseconds, carrier networks span continents, and integration platforms connect virtually any ecommerce system to any delivery provider. From a technical standpoint, shipping has become plug-and-play.
This efficiency has created what economists call “perfect competition” in basic logistics services. When every provider offers identical core functionality at similar prices, profit margins compress and differentiation becomes nearly impossible. It’s the same market evolution we’ve witnessed in telecommunications, cloud computing and countless other industries.
The result is predictable. Retailers who continue focusing solely on moving parcels from point A to point B are competing in a race to the bottom. Meanwhile, forward-thinking brands have recognised they need to compete on an entirely different level: the customer experience that surrounds the delivery.
Where’s the real competitive advantage hiding?
The answer lies in the distinction between delivery execution and delivery orchestration. Execution is about moving parcels efficiently (which is now table stakes). Orchestration is about conducting the entire symphony of customer communication, expectation management and proactive problem-solving that transforms a simple delivery into a brand-reinforcing experience.
This distinction becomes even more critical as retailers embrace the growing demand for flexible delivery options. According to recent industry analysis, retailers are investing heavily in last-mile innovations including same-day delivery, click-and-collect, and partnerships with third-party delivery apps to meet rising customer expectations for speed and convenience. These meet customer expectations, but here’s where it gets complicated: Each new delivery option introduces another potential point of brand disconnect.
Consider a retailer offering standard delivery, next-day delivery, click-and-collect and same-day delivery through a third-party app. Without proper orchestration, customers might receive different communication styles, inconsistent tracking experiences and varying levels of service quality across these channels. The brand promise fractures across multiple touchpoints.
This fragmentation is why execution isn’t enough anymore. A retailer might successfully move parcels through all these channels, but without orchestration, they’re essentially running several disconnected logistics operations under one brand umbrella. Customers notice these inconsistencies, and they don’t care about your operational complexity. They just want a consistent experience.
How do delivery partnerships complicate brand control?
The push towards flexible delivery options has created a new challenge: maintaining brand control while leveraging third-party capabilities. When you partner with delivery apps or click-and-collect networks, you’re essentially handing over parts of your customer relationship to external providers.
These partnerships often come with strings attached. Third-party platforms may control customer communication, own delivery data or limit your ability to customise the experience. Your customers might receive generic notifications instead of branded communications, or worse, they might interact with customer service teams that don’t understand your brand values.
The data ownership question is particularly thorny. When customers use third-party delivery services, who owns the relationship data? Who can use delivery performance insights for future optimisation? Who controls the communication when something goes wrong? Without clear orchestration, retailers risk becoming disconnected from their own customers’ post-purchase experiences.
This is why smart retailers are investing in orchestration platforms that can maintain brand consistency across all delivery channels, regardless of who physically handles the parcel. They’re managing logistics and managing relationships.
What does real delivery orchestration look like?
Leading retailers are implementing systems that treat delivery data as a strategic asset rather than operational overhead. These platforms aggregate performance information from all delivery partners – whether that’s traditional carriers, same-day services or click-and-collect networks – normalising it into consistent formats and triggering intelligent actions based on delivery status.
When weather systems threaten a delivery route, customers receive branded updates before they start wondering about delays. When a click-and-collect location is experiencing high volumes, the system automatically suggests alternative pickup points. When same-day delivery partners consistently underperform in specific areas, the system adjusts future routing decisions while maintaining consistent customer communication.
The technology enables what we might call “delivery intelligence” – the ability to make informed decisions about every aspect of the post-purchase experience across all channels. Retailers can identify which delivery options customers prefer, how different fulfilment methods affect repeat purchase rates, and where operational improvements will have the biggest customer impact.
(This proactive approach addresses what we’ve identified as the root cause of customer service issues.)
This orchestration works whether you’re using one carrier or 20 different delivery methods. The key is having unified visibility and intelligent automation that can respond to changing conditions faster than human operators while maintaining consistent brand experience.
How does pricing align with the orchestration model?
The shift from basic shipping to delivery orchestration is also changing how retailers think about technology investments. Traditional logistics platforms often charge per label or per shipment, which made sense when shipping was purely transactional. But orchestration requires a different approach.
Activity-based pricing models align better with orchestration because they recognise that value comes from managing the entire customer journey, not just processing individual shipments. When retailers pay based on their actual usage across all delivery channels – tracking events, communication triggers, data insights – they can scale their orchestration capabilities as their business grows without being penalised for providing better customer experiences.
This pricing approach also supports the multi-channel reality most retailers face. Whether a customer chooses standard delivery, click-and-collect or same-day service, the orchestration platform manages the entire experience. Activity-based pricing means retailers aren’t paying separately for each delivery method but for the unified orchestration that makes all these options feel seamless to customers.
How does orchestration change operational efficiency?
Beyond reducing customer service contacts, delivery orchestration delivers measurable improvements across multiple operational areas. Retailers implementing comprehensive tracking and communication systems report significant gains in several key metrics:
- Inventory planning accuracy improves when retailers can predict delivery performance patterns across all fulfilment channels and adjust stock levels accordingly.
- Partner negotiation leverage increases when retailers have detailed performance data across all their delivery options.
- Customer lifetime value rises when delivery experiences reinforce rather than undermine brand loyalty across every touchpoint.
Perhaps most importantly, operational predictability improves dramatically. Instead of reactive firefighting when deliveries go wrong across different channels, retailers can proactively manage exceptions, communicate transparently with customers, and maintain control over the post-purchase experience regardless of which delivery method customers choose.
Where should retailers invest their logistics technology budget?
The conversation at RetailJam made clear that retailers are moving beyond basic shipping functionality. The smart money is going into platforms that provide complete delivery orchestration – unified visibility, predictive analytics, automated communications and continuous optimisation across all delivery channels.
These investments pay dividends across the entire business. Customer service teams handle fewer reactive contacts and more proactive relationship building. Operations teams can optimise based on real performance data from all delivery partners rather than gut instinct. Marketing teams can use consistent delivery performance as a competitive differentiator rather than a potential liability.
The retailers who recognise this shift are already pulling ahead. Those still focused on printing labels more efficiently are fighting yesterday’s battle while their competitors orchestrate tomorrow’s customer experiences across every delivery touchpoint.
Steve’s observation at RetailJam highlights a key transformation, that success belongs to retailers who ensure customers always know where their order is. This goes beyond simply moving parcels faster. It involves seamlessly orchestrating every moment of the post-purchase journey to transform customers from buyers to advocates without hesitation. The brands excelling in this new landscape are those who have mastered making complex logistics feel effortless to their customers.