Who's Brand is it Anyway?

Have a look at this recent tracking SMS I received and tell me what's wrong?

Best Buy like most retailers spend an inordinate amount of equity investing in their brand during the discovery and exploration phase of the digital customer lifecycle, but come post purchase everything seems to go wrong.

The question this particular experience begs is who should own the delivery and tracking experience after the consumer clicks "buy"? is it Best Buy, Narvar or FedEx ?

The unequivocal right answer should be Best Buy, but unfortunately in this example, two of their service provider partners feel that they too have the right to market to and build a relationship with Best Buy's customer post purchase.

Now to be fair to Narvar (the platform providing the tracking experience and sending the tracking SMS’s) this is probably just a case of a poor or rushed implementation most likely due to complexities of getting Best Buy Canada to host their solution on the bestbuy.ca domain, but nethertheless it creates trust and anxiety issues for the consumer, who most certainly has never heard of Narvar.

Is this a legitimate SMS? Is this a fishing attack? Is it safe to click this link?

When I did click the link, it took me to a branded Best Buy tracking page which was great, although it did have a big "Powered by Narvar" logo in the footer.

Now let’s move on to the real issue here, FedEx. While Narvar is a B2B brand, FedEx is legitimately a consumer brand, so it’s somewhat fair to explain to the consumer who the carrier that will be delivering their order will be.

The problem is that FedEx try really really hard to build a direct relationship with Best Buy’s customer. When I'm tracking my package on the Narvar tracking page, if I click on the FedEx tracking number, then I'm immediately redirected to FedEx.

Right bang in the middle of the tracking details landing page on Fedex is a call to action to signup for their "Delivery Manager" service. Now Delivery Manager is a carrot - an attempt by FedEx to build a direct relationship with Best Buy's customer (me) by offering a suite of value add services (such as improved tracking notifications and alternative pickup options).

The problem is that FedEx pretty quickly forget that it's Best Buy's customer they are speaking with. They want to own me, they want to be the brand sending me the tracking SMS notifications and in fact they would like to offer me a job!

Now if a Best Buy customer signs up for FedEx Delivery Manager, this is where the fun really starts. While in Canada (for now) Delivery Manager is a free service, in the US the real ploy is an upsell tactic to get the consumer to pay for premium delivery services from Fedex, such as being able to redirect the order to a different address or request a specific delivery time.

These services are not cheap, and I'd be very surprised if FedEx's retail clients get any revenue share kickback for consumers that opt in for these "premium shipping" services.

So back to the question - who owns the customer?

While we all welcome a better post purchase tracking and notification experience for our online orders, it's debatable how many consumers are comfortable building a brand relationship with FedEx who at the end of the day are just a service provider for Best Buy. Few if any consumers actually choose to ship anything with FedEx, they simply default to the free or cheapest shipping option presented to them by the retailer and if that order happens to come via FedEx, UPS the Postal Service or another carrier they really don't care much as long as the delivery service meets the service expectations set by the retailer.

This question of brand control is akin to what we are seeing in brick and mortar retail, with brands like Nike saying enough is enough and clawing back control of their brand identity and cutting ties with their wholesale distribution partners like DSW.

I can't help but think it's time for retail brands like Best Buy to take back control of their brand and shopper experience in the post purchase phase of the customer lifecycle. The delivery experience should be a critical part of the brand experience and it won't be long before online retailers wake up and start to take control of every aspect of the delivery experience, from the buy button to the doorstep themselves.