How Retailers Are Using Delivery Personas to Build Customer Loyalty

E-commerce continues its steady climb, growing 6.1 percent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The undercurrent to this stable growth is a more complex reality: With tariffs and trade policies shifting weekly, retailers are grappling with unprecedented supply chain volatility and cost pressures.

This environment demands more than traditional cost management. Retailers need strategies that can drive customer retention and operational efficiency, and delivery plays a leading role. Descartes’ 2025 Ecommerce and Home Delivery Consumer Sentiment Study shows that younger customers, aged 18 to 34, are driving the bulk of online growth, with 43 percent increasing their spending online compared to the year before. However, only 11 percent of that same group reported being satisfied with every delivery, and 47 percent said they wouldn’t buy from a retailer again if they had a negative delivery experience.

So, what can retailers actually do to increase customer satisfaction when it comes to delivery? One key strategy lies in the concept of delivery personas — similar in principle to buying personas, which are very well understood in retail. Rather than treating delivery as a uniform service, smart retailers are recognizing five distinct delivery personas, each with different priorities around cost, speed, precision, and sustainability, and tailoring delivery options accordingly.

1. Cost-Conscious

The most common persona, making up 37 percent of the study, is cost-based consumers. They're willing to wait longer for their delivery if it means saving money, particularly when buying low-urgency items like books or clothing. For these customers, offering lower-cost delivery windows that coincide with existing routes keeps costs down without sacrificing satisfaction.

2. Parcel Mentality

This 18 percent of shoppers, mostly 18-34 year-olds, want faster delivery, but don’t need a precise time slot. This group doesn’t mind if a box shows up on their doorstep at noon or 7 p.m., but they do want real-time tracking and proof of delivery. Transparent communication about the journey of their package matters more than a guaranteed time slot.

3. Precision First

On the other hand, precision-first consumers prioritize control. The study found that nearly a quarter of consumers (24 percent) are willing to pay extra for a delivery slot that fits their schedule. They want to choose their delivery window, and they expect that commitment to be honored. This preference is more common for high-value items like furniture or appliances that need to be installed or signed for.

Dynamic delivery scheduling lets retailers offer slots that are convenient and profitable to fulfill. Available slots can be priced dynamically according to how much they cost to serve, and if it’s too expensive or unfeasible, it won’t appear as an option.

4. Time-is-Currency

Similarly, dynamic pricing helps customers who value speed and are prepared to pay for it. This preference is strongest with purchases such as groceries, medicine or last-minute needs, when customers want their deliveries as soon as possible and on schedule. Dynamic pricing offsets the operational costs of meeting that demand.

5. Sustainability-Minded

The final persona, which 13 percent of respondents identified with, is sustainability-minded consumers who are willing to adjust their expectations for more eco-friendly delivery options. Many are open to consolidated or slower deliveries if they help reduce emissions. Retailers should highlight eco-friendly delivery time slots, especially when a truck is already scheduled in their area. Since those stops are less costly to serve, retailers can consider incentivizing options with a lower price.

Each persona represents a valuable opportunity to create a better customer experience while still reducing costs and improving operational efficiency. Ignoring any of these preferences means risking profitability and long-term loyalty.

While consumers’ e-commerce expectations grow more fragmented, one important solution is to offer dynamic delivery options that allow customers to choose based on their priorities. By designing delivery features around real customer behavior and operational capacity, retailers can drive down cost, reduce delivery failures, and retain more customers with every order.

Johannes Panzer is head of industry solutions, e-commerce at Descartes, a provider of on-demand, software-as-a-service solutions focused on improving the productivity, performance and security of logistics-intensive businesses.