The Amazon Effect: SugarlashPRO's Strategy to Overcome One-Day Prime Shipping
From free one-day shipping to an endless catalog of products, Amazon has become a dominant player in the retail industry. Its impact on small businesses cannot be ignored. Oftentimes, it’s easy to forget most small businesses have less than 50 employees! Sugarlash PRO, despite being one of the most established lash suppliers in the industry, consists of a small but mighty team of 10! We have built a loyal following by providing exceptional customer service and premium products. However, in recent years, Sugarlash PRO and other small businesses have had to compete with Amazon's shipping speed, convenience, and price point. Despite the challenges in supply chain and rising shipping costs, Sugarlash PRO has developed a foundation of qualities that sets us apart from the e-commerce giant.
Understanding Customer Needs
One of the key elements of Sugarlash PRO's strategy is a deep understanding of their customer's needs. While one-day Prime shipping may be important to some customers, others may be willing to wait longer if it means getting a high-quality product and personalized customer service.
We have developed a loyal customer base by prioritizing personalized customer service and high-quality products in addition to introducing our loyalty program to reward our clients for supporting Sugarlash PRO. It’s important for us to have personalized interactions with our clients to ensure their experience is positive and informative. Sugarlash PRO is a small, but mighty team of 10 full time employees. By building strong relationships with our customers, Sugarlash PRO has been able to overcome the pressure to offer one-day Prime shipping. We also understand the need for transparency in our shipping processes and how we operate as a small business serving thousands of clients every day.
Traditionally, shipping takes anywhere from 3-5 business days up to 7-10 business days from the time you hit “Place Order” and receive your confirmation. As a small business, we rely on our carriers to ensure packages are delivered, so once we ship a package, it is entirely in the hands of the delivery company! In order to prioritize and expedite as much as possible, Sugarlash PRO makes a conscious effort to ensure all orders that are submitted take no more than one business day to fulfill (AKA pick, pack, and get your orders shipped!).
Investing in Infrastructure
Another element of Sugarlash PRO's strategy is investing in infrastructure to improve shipping speed and efficiency. While they may not be able to offer one-day Prime shipping, they are working to improve their shipping processes to ensure that their products are delivered as quickly as possible.
Sugarlash PRO has invested in quicker, more efficient and client-oriented services like FedEx and UPS which provide additional service for our clients including the UPS My Choice® service, which provides proactive delivery alerts via text or email that keep you informed of changes in status from the time a package is shipped to the time it is delivered. Our international customers can even control their deliveries by rescheduling for another day, redirecting to another address, or sending to a UPS Access Point® location. With UPS My Choice, our customers can plan ahead and have more control over their deliveries. This update in our shipping services has helped to streamline our customer communication and reduce delivery times.
Providing Quality over Quantity
Finally, Sugarlash PRO focuses on the quality of our products and the expertise of our amazing staff. Unlike some Amazon retailers, Sugarlash PRO products are designed with the professional lash artist in mind, and are rigorously tested to ensure the best results for their customers. It’s always nerve wracking ordering anything online without being able to touch and test the product before committing to the purchase, however at Sugarlash PRO, we can assure you our products are tried, tested, and true. And if you’re unsure about which product suits your needs best, our customer service team is there to help!
While one-day Prime shipping may be a challenge for small businesses like Sugarlash PRO, we have implemented strategies that we hope will help us overcome the challenge and continue to thrive. By being more transparent about our team and our process, in addition to understanding our customer's needs, Sugarlash PRO has been able to keep up with Amazon so far. With our customers’ continued support, we will continue to provide standout service and products that are trusted by lash artists globally.
