How Samsonite Brings Premium
to the Post-Purchase Experience
A Proven Leader in the Luggage Industry
Since 1910, Samsonite has manufactured and sold premium, durable products that are integral to its customers’ travels. The company’s high-quality products, ranging from essential travel accessories to stylish suitcases across brands including Samsonite, American Tourister and High Sierra, help customers turn their sense of adventure into reality.
Samsonite has several shopper channels, with a beautifully designed D2C website, a presence in airport stores, and a strong distribution strategy through major retailers. Sometimes, though, more channels can bring more challenges. Even as a veteran and proven leader in the luggage industry, there was still room to enhance the post-purchase experience for Samsonite’s online customers.
A Case for Change
Samsonite wanted to continue optimising the customer experience and overall brand perception. However, Michael and the team at Samsonite noticed that customers who loved the brand and products were sometimes leaving less favourable reviews. Why? After digging into the data, difficulties with carriers and product delivery were identified as recurring themes.
When people purchase Samsonite products, they generally have a future trip planned. They feel excited about that trip. Unfortunately, complications with their ordered luggage arriving can quite simply erode that excitement and overall brand sentiment.
Michael Dewar, Head of eCommerce at Samsonite Australia & New Zealand, explains, “The worst thing I could imagine is a customer relying on Samsonite as part of their journey and being let down by poor or unreliable delivery of our products.“
Michael continues, “From my perspective, the limited carrier options we had in Australia weren’t really living up to how we wanted our brand to be experienced and felt”.
Michael Dewar
Head of eCommerce at Samsonite Australia & New Zealand
Making the Experience the Real Journey
Michael and the supply chain team wanted a reliable, premium delivery service offering that truly reflected the Samsonite brand. Deliver In Person was the logical choice, offering speed, reliability, and customer-led post-purchase experiences surpassing what other providers could promise.
Michael elaborates, “Our products are premium. Therefore, the whole experience needs to feel premium to our customers. We saw an experiential gap between shoppers placing orders and receiving our products. Like many other brands, we needed a stronger focus on that critical post-purchase element. That’s where Deliver In Person really ticked that box.”
From the onset, Deliver In Person aimed to build a true partnership with Samsonite and become a valued extension of the brand. Additionally, the experience-driven provider has brought dynamic workflows to Samsonite deliveries, enabling real-time updates of timing and location, signature requirements, and more.
Michael notes, “What really won us over was seeing that live tracking experience. For a customer who’s used to that ‘Uber’ experience, real-time tracking is another way to meet their expectations, right up to their doorstep. Particularly if you’re ordering something like a suitcase and you’re flying tomorrow, you’re going to want that certainty and reassurance.”
By leveraging Innovative technology and proactive communication from customer-minded drivers, Samsonite can more effectively meet and exceed recipients’ expectations—even as things change in real-time. As Michael puts it, “Whether a customer needs our products quickly or just wants their luggage arriving on time from a polite, reliable driver, we now rely on Deliver In Person to add extra value and save the day.”
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Before implementing the Deliver In Person solution, I put it to a blind test. And I feel bad for the driver, at the time, Jimmy, because I was an absolutely high-maintenance customer. I was like ‘Hey Jimmy, can you deliver in half an hour’s time instead?’ and had quite a bit of dialogue during the delivery process. I wanted to really test things out. He was great. He delivered beyond the service level I expected, and it left an impression of the delivery I’d never experienced before that.
”
Results that Stack Up
Online retailers pay close attention to their Delivered In Full On Time (or DIFOT) metric. It’s a critical indicator that reliable, on-time delivery is consistently happening. As Michael puts it, “I rely heavily on data from customer feedback metrics like DIFOT. They’re great measures of success and how Deliver In Person is helping us enhance the overall experience.”
Since partnering with Deliver In Person, Michael has seen DIFOT scores increase dramatically. Michael notes, “Our average B2C Metro Mel and Syd DIFOT was previously as low as 82.3%. As of Feb 2024, where Deliver In Person is now a key carrier for these regions, DIFOT improved to 96.7%, with 99.7% specifically for the Deliver In Person service. This clearly demonstrates that the introduction of Deliver In Person into our last-mile mix as well as increased volumes with them is having a significant impact on customers in these key regions.”
Rather than chasing deliveries, Samsonite customers can now reflect on the reliable, on-time service they’ve come to expect from the brand.
Behind the scenes, Samsonite employees have also noticed the human element of dealing with Deliver In Person. “Everyone has just been absolutely praising Deliver in Person. We’ve got some great relationships [with Deliver In Person], and our Ops teams saw that Deliver In Person is a pleasure and an absolute breeze to deal with. Having such a smooth operational side of the delivery piece makes our business goals more easily achievable.”
Additionally, Michael has saved considerable time in day-to-day follow-up just by bringing Deliver In Person onboard. “Previously, there was a lot of problem-solving between our customer care team and carriers. Issues like customers chasing order statuses and resolving lost parcels cases all took time away from more strategic priorities. The team spent around 13.5 hours in March responding to shipping issues with other carriers. On the other hand, we had only one query for Deliver In Person and found their delivery email already had contact info and next steps for the customer. We simply had to respond to our customer with that information, which took about 10 seconds of effort.”
Deliver In Person has also underpinned Samsonite’s brand promise, helping to cultivate an extended market reach. Michael explains, “We’ve also found new cohorts of customers that will shop with us. In the past, we offered standard and express. But particularly in those crucial moments, customers might be ordering a last-minute present or about to go on a trip. They want additional same-day and next-day options. And more importantly, they want that reliability and trust that what’s said is done. Deliver In Person has been instrumental in helping us grow these new customer segments.”
Continuing to Put Samsonite Miles Ahead
Michael and the team at Samsonite are looking forward to exploring additional value-added services from Deliver In Person. One such option is its “Wait and Try” service, where customers could be delivered two suitcases to see in person, decide on their favourite, and have the drivers wait and take back the other. Another service is a “Quick Swap” service. If a customer ever orders the wrong size or colour of product, they could forgo returns processes to have new items swapped out on the same day.
Deliver In Person will continue to be the human-centric, technology-driven partner that upholds and supports shoppers’ expectations of the premium Samsonite brand. Michael expresses, “We’re trusting our carriers to represent the brand. We now have the confidence that we’ve got a delivery partner who’s passionate about our brand and our experience, which I think puts us miles ahead.”
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With other carriers, I’ve heard customer feedback that they were home at the time when a courier just threw their new suitcase into the front yard and drove off. That’s something I know doesn’t happen with Deliver In Person. I have a lot of evidence to back that up.
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Key Outcomes of the Deliver In Person x Samsonite Partnership
Delivered In Full On Time
(DIFOT) metric increased from 82.3% to 96.7% (and 99.7% specifically for DIP).
13.5 hours of time
saved chasing other carriers vs 10 seconds checking with Deliver In Person.
TIME
Partner with Deliver In Person
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