About kfzteile24

kfzteile24 has an assortment of over 1.8 million automotive parts and accessories making it one of the largest German online shops for car parts, boasting annual sales in the three-digit million range. Delivery usually takes place 1-2 days after purchase, which is made possible by use of their own logistics center with a storage capacity of over 1.8 million parts. Through computer-aided processes, orders are usually packed and shipped within 24 hours of their receipt.

In order to illuminate problem areas and initiate improvements, kfzteile24 uses the service of the Experience Management Platform zenloop. Since 2019, the company has been surveying customer feedback at four contact points. Because speedy and reliable shipping plays a crucial role, these points include the “after delivery” touchpoint, i.e. the moment in the customer journey after the customers have received their goods—as car repairs are generally time sensitive. The aim here is to identify issues that cause buyer dissatisfaction and to improve them in order to increase customer satisfaction.

The Challenge

By implementing zenloop at the after delivery touchpoint, kftzeile24 identified challenges in the delivery process and thus recognized clear potential for improvement. Although the NPS was 60 points above the average value in the automotive industry, customer comments revealed topics that required action. The company was also dissatisfied with the 12 percent proportion of detractors.

Potential for improvement was particularly notable in the areas of dispatch and parts availability. More than half of the detractors (55 percent) mentioned shipping topics in their comments and 17 percent reported negatively about lack of stock. Reasons given for these negative reviews was that shipping times stated on the website were not adhered to, leading to increasingly late deliveries.

After extensive analysis and consideration of customer feedback, kfzteile24 discovered that the cause was mainly due to a lack of transparency communicating the availability of goods on the website. Goods availability and delivery times communicated often did not correspond to reality, which is why deliveries were made later than stated when the order was placed. Evaluation also showed that customers were more often dissatisfied with one specific courier than with the others.

The Solution

In order to tackle the issues raised, the spare parts supplier introduced the first website changes from the start of 2020. From then on, the status of each part was clearly communicated and the delivery time precisely specified. This enabled kfzteile24 to ensure that buyers’ delivery time expectations were met and that the number of late deliveries was reduced.

Additionally, use of the courier with which buyers were dissatisfied was gradually reduced to the bare minimum in order to achieve a better shipping experience.

As well as this, the company introduced a process at check-out where customers are provided with alternative suggestions for spare parts that are currently out of stock. This feature was also aimed at delivering the required parts to customers as quickly as possible. In addition the bounce rate was reduced, since interested parties could order the alternative product instead of looking for the original from a competitor.

The Result

Significant positive changes were noticeable within the first month—a trend which continually improved. After the first year, the number of dissatisfied customers who mentioned shipping topics in their comments fell by almost half—from 55 percent to 29 percent. The topic of availability also developed positively and was mentioned by only 13 percent of dissatisfied customers, a reduction from 18 percent.

These positive changes were also reflected in the NPS: here the value rose by a whole 9 points from 60 to 69. The number of detractors fell by a third and now only accounts for 8 percent of respondents.

Today, about a year after the measures were successfully implemented, the Kfzteile24’s net promoter score at the “after delivery” touchpoint stands at an all-time high of 74 points—a whole 14 points higher than at the beginning of the collaboration with zenloop. The percentage of detractors also decreased by an additional percent to just 7 percent. But not only that: repeat buyers also noticed this improvement and the higher level of satisfaction is also reflected in customer feedback.

Looking at this development, kfzteile24 succeeded in reaching its goal of implementing higher customer satisfaction within a few months. The number of satisfied customers at the after-delivery touchpoint increased by a full 10 percent and is now 80 percent.

The measures taken and the increased NPS also paid off noticeably in the decline of delivery-related customer service inquiries and an increase in the repurchase rate. On the one hand, this enabled customer service costs to be reduced and, on the other, increased sales – so there is a direct impact on the company’s financial success.

kfzteile24 plans to continue working with zenloop in the future in order to use customer feedback, initiate improvements, and increase customer satisfaction even further.