Unintended A/B test in checkout: how the competition can profit from the post office strike

The current post office strike affects online retailers too. After all, the last few steps have the potential to be the most frustrating in distance trade. A strike, and the delivery delays which go with it, is dangerous for traders’ service promises.

Traders commonly find alternative service providers, like Hermes to put in as standard shipping service at the checkout, while things are tight at the post office. This is often not what was intended – quite a few of these companies don’t have the best reputation.

But what happens which conversion rates sky rocket as soon as customers are offered a different shipping provider? At the Logistics and Returns conference, I heard about this happening from several traders. They are now deciding on whether or not they should change back after the strike at all.

Is the post office losing their standing among Germany’s businesses? Will the strike do more longterm damage than they thought? E-Commerce is the growth driver in the logistics segment.

I would be interested to hear about the experiences of our readers: how are you reacting to the strike? Is a change of service provider also making a real difference at the checkout?