When peak season delivery goes wrong: Protecting your brand’s reputation

The peak season delivery window is the most demanding time of year for eCommerce brands and carriers alike. Unfortunately, customer patience doesn’t grow with surging order volumes. 

Next-day delivery is still an expectation – alongside real-time tracking and perfect packaging – even as parcel networks run at full tilt (I know, right?). 

For UK retailers, this reality bites businesses every peak. Take it back just a year, and UK parcel deliveries were forecast to reach 1.29 billion between October and December 2024, a 10.9% rise on the same period in 2023 (yes, that’s billion with a ‘b’).  

When volumes climb to these levels, delays, damaged parcels, and missed drops are inevitable; so, if you’re bracing for chaos, there’s good reason to. But when it comes to bad delivery events, what matters most is how you react – not trying to avoid it entirely. 

The harsh reality for carriers: Stretched to breaking point 

Understanding why deliveries fail starts with courier networks, which face increasing levels of operational strain year after year. 

According to Ofcom’s monitoring report, 67% of consumers faced a delivery issue in 2024, telling us two things: lots of bad delivery events happen, but it’s something customers are used to. 

Add peak demand, seasonal staff shortages and weather disruptions to the mix (sorry, carrier networks), and the margin for error all but disappears. 

Even before Christmas 2024 came around, 14.8 million people – more than a third of online shoppers in the UK (36%) – experienced a delivery issue with a parcel they received in the month of November. 

In other words: bad deliveries don’t just happen; they multiply when the pressure hits. 

Why bad deliveries happen 

Peak magnifies weak spots in every arm of logistics. Manual fulfilment processes are exposed, carriers hit capacity limits, and bad weather slows everything down.  

Even if the driver reaches the correct address, successful delivery still isn’t a done deal. Nearly a quarter of shoppers (23%) reported parcels being left in an inappropriate location, a fifth (20%) say the delivery driver didn’t knock loud enough, and 19% say they weren’t given sufficient time to answer the door. 

Unfortunately, you’re powerless to prevent any of this, and so is your fulfilment provider.  

What you can control is your response: how quickly you spot an issue, communicate it, solve it, and make it right. 

Real brands, real tales

Read the story of Gisada's daring growth journey with fulfilmentcrowd.

Start the adventure

What customers remember most 

Surprisingly, customers don’t expect perfection. There’s always a frustration after bad delivery events, but honesty and transparency are what keeps people around when parcels go AWOL. 

Slow refunds, unclear updates, and apologies without action can frustrate customers more than the original issue. Once that trust is lost, it’s hard to get it back. 

Instead, it’s vital to be proactive and get ahead of any peak season delivery problems that will arise. With bad delivery, there’s no closing your eyes and hoping it goes away. 

Managing delivery failures effectively and maintaining customer loyalty comes down to four key areas. 

1. Being proactive

When a delivery stalls, you need to be ready. If you can get ahead of customer complaints, even better. Use real-time tracking to spot delays and send pre-emptive updates: even a quick “We’ve spotted a delay – here’s what we’re doing” message can work wonders for customer patience. 

If a parcel goes missing, it’s vital to have processes that rectify the carrier’s mistake. Whether arranging a replacement product or issuing refunds quickly, it’s these efforts that will make customers buy from you again. 

2. Making refunds fast – and frictionless

A slow refund can feel worse than a late parcel. Nobody wants to wait weeks for their money back on an item they didn’t even receive – especially around Christmas time. Automating refunds or issuing instant credit turns frustration into relief, and is proof that you value the buyer's time as much as their custom. 

3. Keeping operations and service aligned

Marketing, operations, and customer service should all work from the same data. When each team gives a different answer, it only adds to the confusion. A unified platform prevents this, and keeps your brand voice consistent. 

4. Owning the narrative

Sometimes, things go wrong. The likelihood is: it’s happened to your customers before.  

Saying “We’re sorry” with clarity and speed, supported by quick solutions to solve the customer’s issue, goes much further than over-promising a fix you can’t deliver. Even though bad delivery isn’t your fault, customers will remember your sincerity. 

Do it all with Delivery Assured: Your safety net for when delivery goes wrong 

If you’ve not gathered already: you can’t stop bad delivery. And during peak, the likelihood is that deliveries will go wrong (if not, buy a lottery ticket – it might be your lucky year). 

This certainty is why we created Delivery Assured, our answer to a common logistics problem.  

Delivery Assured is designed to catch delivery failures before they escalate, and puts the customer in complete control of their orders. 

With real-time order tracking, the ability to amend delivery details, and the chance to make in-flight changes from mobile or desktop, customers have total power over their delivery experience.  

fulfilmentcrowd's Chief Product Officer Austin Waddecar walks you through Delivery Assured

Throughout the entire basket-to-doorstep process, Delivery Assured captures important information that allows customers to instantly report delivery issues when they occur, leading to quick problem resolution. 

By automatically gathering all necessary evidence, Delivery Assured streamlines the entire claims process, reducing the administrative burden on your business (because nobody wants to play ‘find the parcel’ on Black Friday weekend). 

And if the issue lies with the carrier? We’ll credit your business so you can refund your customer instantly, while we pursue the carrier for reimbursement in the background. 

The result: faster refunds, calmer customers, and a brand that looks to have everything under control. Go team! 

Protect your brand’s reputation this peak 

In peak season, perfection isn’t realistic. But composure is. 

Delivery problems are inevitable when millions (or billions) of parcels flood carrier networks, but it’s your reaction to these scenarios that defines your reputation. 

Communicate openly, refund quickly and equip your business with tools like Delivery Assured to have the best chance of keeping customers happy. 

Because when customers feel like you care about their experience – even when things go wrong – they’ll remember that feeling long after Christmas has come and gone.