Cast your mind back to Cold War-era Berlin. It’s the Berlin Blockade and Airlift of 1948-49. The Soviet Union has blocked all land and water access to West Berlin, with the Allies forced to issue critical supplies by air in response. But how were those supplies ordered?

The Telex Teleprinter network was used for early forms of electronic commerce, with orders and invoices sent between suppliers and customers inside and outside Berlin. In overcoming unprecedented logistics and supply chains, Telex highlighted the potential of digital commerce, laying the foundation for its broader adoption in international trade.

This isn’t a history lesson, though; it’s a precursor to the booming ecommerce industry we know and love today. Over the ensuing 75 years, ecommerce has evolved in leaps and bounds; from English entrepreneur Michael Aldrich inventing online and teleshopping in 1979, to the inception of the world wide web in 1990, and the arrival of AI-powered discovery in 2025.

eCommerce has long been an early-adopter of technology; as comfortable as any industry when it comes to innovating, pushing the boundaries and evolving as the needs and wants of its customers do. Just think about virtual reality or Web3 shopping. But what about the future of delivery innovation in ecommerce?

In this edition of Delivered our Joint CEO and Co-founder, Rob Hango-Zada for the second of two parts, answered some of our questions about delivery innovations and how they came about. Here’s what he thinks about the trends and technologies that are shaping the today and tomorrow of ecommerce delivery.

TL;DR

• Today’s consumers have high expectations and low tolerance: If your delivery experience doesn’t evolve as their needs and wants evolve, you could lose them forever.
• Almost four in five Aussies say delivery is critical: As many as two thirds of shoppers would blacklist a brand if the delivery fell short of their expectations.
• Predictably fast delivery is the next frontier: As competition and challenges reach an all-time high, predictably fast delivery could be your secret weapon in the battle for survival.

Customer-centricity is key to customer loyalty

It’s 2025, and in Australia alone, hundreds of millions of products, worth tens of billions of dollars, are flowing through delivery networks nationwide. Whether we’re collecting a dress via click & collect on a Sydney lunch break or waiting for a new bed at the Back o’ Burke, we’ve never been more reliant on ecommerce than we are today.

But as our reliance grows, so too do our expectations. Today, customer expectations are higher than ever, but their tolerance for poor delivery experiences are lower than ever.

According to insights from our State of Shipping report:

• Almost four in five Aussies said that the post-purchase experience - covering everything from delivery to tracking and returns - was either ‘extremely or very important’ to them;
• Over half (51%) of young shoppers say their experience has risen as a direct result of global giants like Amazon, Temu and Shein;
• And, most critically of all, two in three (64%) say they would not shop again from a brand after a poor delivery experience.

Amazon is training the next generation of shopper expectations, and for today’s consumers, you really do only get one chance to make a first impression. If it’s underwhelming, you might not see them again. It’s stark, but our research shows that it’s not an exaggeration.

Retailers have noticed, with our research showing that one in eight (12%) of retailers say the market factor that will have the biggest impact on their business in the next 12 months is increased customer expectations. However, that could mean the remaining 88% are underestimating the impact of their customers’ demands.

Against that backdrop, innovation is key - whether you’re a new player or the market leader. The foundation of The Iconic’s meteoric rise is built on its delivery experience and constantly asking questions like: What do our customers want? How can we improve?

Innovation, innovation, innovation

Just this month, in fact, Amazon rolled out its single-touch ‘Add to Delivery’ function, to allow shoppers to quickly add eligible products to existing deliveries. It’s entirely free for existing Amazon Prime members, and has already been used 50 million times since debuting it back in August.

Imagine that. You’re planning a party for your children, and realise you’ve forgotten to add an item to your order. Previously, it would have necessitated either a separate order (and then a separate delivery) or a mad dash to the shopping centre. Not anymore. It’s a fantastic example of a brand identifying then alleviating a common customer pain point.

Innovation isn’t a set and forget, it’s iterative. Those who are testing, iterating and refining - all in the name of the customer - are sprinting ahead. Those who aren’t will see a negative impact on both their acquisition and retention rates.

In the last Delivered, we talked about not trying to ‘out-Amazon Amazon’, but what does the next wave of local innovation look like, and how can Australian brands create cutting-edge delivery experiences that turn one off-shoppers into regulars?

“We all thought that the future of delivery would be about exactly where and when I want to receive a package,” Rob continues. “But that actually requires a fair bit of planning and coordination from a consumer perspective. The real trend is more about being specific & reliable. Getting close enough to an expected delivery date is what's become more important for consumers. Amazon's next day or fast same day delivery is a really good example of that.

“But further afield live examples show hyper convenience is set to be a game changer. In China today, if you can make a purchase and have it delivered whilst traveling on a bullet train from Shanghai to Beijing. Items are delivered within an hour and hand-delivered to your seat via a courier waiting for you at the next stop.”

Back home in Australia, Rob points to Petbarn as a retailer who has created a USP for customers with its ability to offer quick, convenient and predictable delivery. As a result, the iconic Aussie brand has turned delivery excellence into increased cart conversions, 3.5x more spending from customers who choose on-demand delivery and more repeat purchasing, too,

“They've lent in the most into scheduled delivery outside of the big grocery chains,” Rob continues. “Scheduled delivery is probably the most underrated delivery service that we've got available to us in Australia.

“When you can actually select a time slot of a couple of hours, it allows a customer to think more proactively about where they might be. Two hours is a small enough window not to ruin someone's day completely.”

That, afterall, is key. Telling your customers, with data-driven accuracy when to expect an order and making that delivery work around their needs and schedule, not vice versa.

Cutting through the noise

In 2025, we asked retailers how they were investing in the next 12 months. The most common response (from 20.7% of retailers) was ‘supply chain optimisation’, which covers both fulfilment and delivery.

In 2024, we’d asked the exact same question, and supply chain optimisation was just the fourth most common investment priority. This reflects a growing recognition of the importance of delivery and its impact on customer experience and, therefore, acquisition and retention.

But if more and more retailers are - rightly - investing in delivery and in technology, how can they differentiate?

Rob believes for retailers to set themselves apart, it's crucial to think about the context, the people on your team, the existing processes, and what endgame you're seeking, before you can start mapping out the strategy. Learn, test, refine and grow. As Pablo Picasso famously said: learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist. Amazon has turned delivery into an artform, but every retailer can make art.

“The way that we've looked at it is, we think about customisation from a customer perspective. And if you really start to think it through under that lens, you start to look for creative or innovative ways that you can deliver that type of value.

“Take SmartRouting by Shippit, for example. We built it in response to a need in the market for more customisation of multi-leg deliveries, especially when it comes to international and bulky deliveries. As a virtual network, it automatically stitches together multiple carriers depending on parameters like geography and service levels, so that retailers get a customised and fully optimised delivery option that can give them better prices and better service. By offering a delivery experience that delivers for your customers, their affinity to your brand will grow."

We’re at a critical fork in the road in 2025. Many retailers are facing existential threats - from Amazon to inflation and evolving consumer habits. The decisions, investments and strategies you make in the next six-to-12 months could be the difference between a path to prosperity and a path to choppier waters.

Whether it’s with scheduled delivery, expected delivery windows, or AI-powered route optimisation, the goal must be to provide your shopper with an experience that meets their needs today, tomorrow and well into the future.