eCommerce Strategy Consultant - Rick Watson - RMW Commerce Consulting

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Shopify's Underwhelming Shop Promise: Worse than Amazon Prime, and More Confusing!

What is Shopify’s Shop Promise?

One feature in the latest Shopify Editions release was "Shop Promise." It is a way for Shopify to let buyers know when an item will arrive, thus boosting conversion rates.

The world instantly positioned it as a competitor to Amazon, when it was just making shipping promises more widely available on Shopify.

Here’s the TL;DR — It's not a Prime competitor and won't be soon. But if you compare yourself to Prime ("no subscription fees!") you had better be prepared for the comparison.


How does Shop Promise work for Shopify buyers?

The promise will show estimated delivery dates up to 5 days.

5 days? In 2023? Extra text will appear if the order is expected the NextDay or TwoDay.

I'm guessing they want the promise to show up more, but if it is "meh," doesn't that water down the promise? Prime means something because you know what to expect when you see the badge. When you see Shop Promise, you realize you need to read the fine print.



Is Shop Promise a competitor to Amazon Prime?

Shopify highlights a 25% conversion rate boost by Shop Promise. Incidentally, didn't I hear someone else promise this benefit just 3 weeks ago? Oh yeah, Amazon Buy With Prime. Coincidence?

The Shop Promise is not a promise in the way that Amazon's AtoZ guarantee is a promise. It is more like a limited guarantee, with confusing restrictions for both sides.

While I thought Shop Promise would be a carrot for Shopify Fulfillment Network, it is not.

To be eligible for it, you need Shop Pay. You need to have Shop App enabled. Your Shopify Payments account must be active. Are you trying to promote Shop Pay and Shop App or promote Shop Promise? Pick one.


How are Shop Promise claims processed?

As a merchant, you have no control over Shopify's promise dates. If you and the carrier miss that date you have no control over, the buyer must submit a claim, if it's eligible.

Shopify recommends you switch to Fulfillment by Amazon or its SFN if you have trouble fulfilling. Shopify promotes FBA on its page after they paid over $2 billion for Deliverr. Nothing to see here!

The buyer must submit their claim within 30 days of the item's first attempted delivery. OK, on its own.  Shop Promise claims are processed "within five days". This sounds buyer-friendly right? No.

 If your claim is accepted, Shopify will give the buyer Shop Cash. Okay, that seems nice. Until.....

Shop Cash can only be used on Shop App. Not on your website. Yep, Shopify uses its delivery promise to bootstrap its marketplace.

Shop Cash expires after 90 days. This is ridiculous on its own.  I wish I were making this up at this point. I guess, thanks, but .... ???

... and finally ...

What's this vaunted promise based on?

The Shop Promise claim process is a link to a Google Doc.

(Ugh)

where the buyer must enter the URL to their order confirmation page. Who keeps their confirmation URL?

(???)

(Double Ugh)

Who remembers their confirmation URL?


Wrapping Up

Ultimately, if you look at what Shopify is trying to do here, it’s to match Amazon’s Prime promise.  While Shopify is focused on a badge to create consumer confidence, while they are doing so they have missed the elephant in the room:  Amazon has a great consumer promise because they have superior logistics.  It’s not about the badge, it’s about the consistent experience.  

Prime works because the promise is accurate and reliable.

If the Shop Promise date turns out to be inaccurate, it is not helpful.

If the Shop Promise is right and slow, then the badge is irrelevant.

If the Shop Promise Date is right, but the delivery service is inconsistent, it will not build buyer confidence.

This is another way to say: the badge is the icing on the cake, not the cake.  The Prime badge delivers consistent conversion and growth because the promise is real.

Slapping a badge on an inconsistent service will not serve the customer. I hope Shopify is able to learn this lesson soon before they get too far down the path here.


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