E-commerce delivery delays are more than just a hiccup: they generate negative reviews, refunds and a loss of customer confidence. According to the European 2024 report on e-commerce logistics, 1 in 5 orders in France experiences a delay or logistical disruption. For new and growing e-tailers alike, every day counts, and every mistake costs. Understanding the main causes of these delays, and implementing a reliable e-commerce logistics solution, is the key to peace of mind.

In this article, we explain how Shippingbo helps you avoid disputes and meet your deadlines, even with a small team.

Understanding the risk: what the law says about late e-commerce delivery

Delayed e-commerce delivery is one of the most frequent reasons for consumer dissatisfaction… and one of the most penalizing for e-tailers. Because beyond negative feedback, there is a legal framework to respect.

E-merchant’s legal obligations

The law on late e-commerce delivery imposes strict rules: Article L216-1 of the French Consumer Code stipulates that a product must be delivered within the time indicated to the customer, or failing this, within 30 days. In the event of non-compliance, the consumer may request cancellation of the order and a refund within 14 days.

In practice, this means that every delay can cost you dearly: a full refund, loss of product, after-sales management time, and a bad public image. So it’s crucial to know how to avoid late e-commerce deliveries, even as a small merchant.

Find out more: In June 2024, the DGCCRF published an updated version of its guidelines on logistics penalties. This publication reinforces the importance of respecting advertised lead times and the need for e-tailers to protect themselves against disputes.

The real impact of delay: from negative opinion to DGCCRF sanction

A simple parcel dispatched 48 hours late can lead to a chain of consequences: dissatisfaction, negative comments, requests for refunds, customer disputes, even reporting to the DGCCRF in the event of repetition. These e-commerce delivery disputes are often avoidable with reliable logistics, even on a small scale.

A recent study shows that late deliveries have a direct impact on profitability, with cascading effects on customer service and inventories(study “The Cost of Delivery Delays” (2025)).

Fortunately, e-commerce logistics solutions for fast delivery are available, accessible and easy to set up, even without a dedicated team.

The 3 causes of delays that most affect e-tailers

The good news is that most delays are not caused by the carriers, but by upstream organization. In other words, these are things you can easily correct, without depending on a third party.

Black spot no. 1: poor inventory management

A sale on a product that is no longer available, or that has been sold twice on two different channels: this is the classic out-of-stock and late delivery situation. The main reason? A lack of real-time stock synchronization between your marketplaces, e-commerce site and warehouse.

To avoid this, you need to implement OMS software for small e-commerce that unifies all channels and keeps stock up to date automatically.

The bottleneck: slow, manual order picking

Preparing each order manually, printing order forms, checking stock, picking: all this takes time, especially with a small team. This increases the logistical error rate and slows down shipping. The customer waits.

It’s essential to reduce picking errors and optimize picking even in small warehouses, thanks to WMS software for SMEs.

Lack of flexibility: complicated multi-carrier management

Offering multiple carriers is a competitive advantage. But managing contracts, labels, shipping rules or returns manually quickly becomes unmanageable. The result: parcels not shipped on time, wrong choice of e-commerce carrier, or poorly printed labels.

To manage your e-commerce carriers properly, you need a tool that can automate these tasks. You can even create your own shipping labels in just a few clicks.

The Shippingbo solution: automation for reliability

Shippingbo is an e-commerce logistics solution for fast delivery, designed for e-tailers who want to grow, without making too many mistakes or hiring too many people.

OMS: synchronizing and securing omnichannel inventory

Thanks to its OMS (Order Management System), Shippingbo synchronizes your inventory across all your channels (website, marketplace, ERP…). So you can be sure that every product you sell is actually available.

No more overselling or last-minute panic. OMS software for small e-commerce avoids out-of-stock errors, improves your customer satisfaction rate and optimizes your internal e-commerce logistics.

The WMS: speed up picking and eliminate preparation errors

Visit WMS from Shippingbo automates every stage of the preparation process, from warehouse management to the fastest picking strategy.

You can increase productivity, even with a modest warehouse. As a result, you can ship faster, reduce errors and avoid the delays associated with manual management. It’s the ideal tool for reducing logistics error rates without complexity or time-consuming technical deployment.

TMS: assign the right carrier and print labels in 1 click

With the TMS from Shippingbo, there’s no need to juggle several interfaces to print your labels or choose a carrier.

The tool enables :

  • Carrier label automation: fast printing, intelligent sorting according to shipping rules
  • Simple multi-carrier e-commerce management: you define your rules (weight, destination, cost), and the tool selects the right carrier.
  • Better visibility on costs and deadlines

By centralizing everything in a single interface, Shippingbo lets you manage shipments easily, without the need for advanced logistics expertise.

Customer story: how Ma Petite Mercerie reduced shipping delays thanks to Shippingbo

Before Shippingbo, Ma Petite Mercerie faced two logistical challenges:

  • on the one hand, a tedious manual shipping process: each tracked-letter label required up to 20 clicks;
  • on the other hand, difficulties in keeping track of stocks and efficiently organizing order preparation, leading to delays, errors and customer dissatisfaction.

Thanks to Shippingbo, the team was able to automate carrier labeling and set up an optimized logistics workshop.

The result?

  • Reduced stock-outs,
  • An increase in preparation speed,
  • And a better customer experience, thanks to the automatic dispatch of tracking numbers upon shipment.

Implementation was rapid: in less than an hour, three carriers were integrated. Ma Petite Mercerie thus strengthened its reputation, accelerated delivery times and increased sales, while keeping its organization simple and adapted to its size.

Communication and proactivity: the key to reassuring your customers

Delivery may take 24 hours or 4 days: as long as customers are kept informed, they remain confident. Conversely, a lack of communication triggers concern… and then a complaint.

Proactive parcel tracking: inform before they ask

Shippingbo integrates proactive customer parcel tracking: automatic dispatch of tracking number, notification at every stage.

This reduces customer service calls, boosts customer satisfaction and saves you valuable time.

If a problem arises, the customer is warned, which often defuses tensions. Good customer communication about late deliveries is your best ally against disputes.

Managing peak activity without generating delays

Shippingbo is designed to grow with you: it adapts to your volumes. Whether you’re growing from 10 to 100 orders a day, the tool keeps up without bugs or overloads. In peak season, this scalability enables you to maintain optimized delivery times, even when hiring temporary staff or changing carriers.

You stay in control, without stress, and above all without your customers feeling the increase in workload.

Save time, reduce disputes, build customer loyalty

Delayed e-commerce deliveries can damage your image and slow your growth. With Shippingbo, you can automate every step of the process: stock synchronization, order preparation, carrier selection, label printing and customer follow-up. The result: fewer errors, fewer disputes, more orders delivered on time, greater customer loyalty… even with a small team.

Shippingbo is the all-in-one logistics solution that helps you ship faster, at lower cost, and without compromising on quality.

Use our Shippingbo calculator to estimate your logistics savings now:

Calculez vos économies logistiques

FAQ – E-commerce delivery delays: frequently asked questions

FAQ (with structured data)

Your main risks are loss of customer confidence (negative reviews, loss of customer loyalty) and costly disputes. The law on late e-commerce delivery obliges you to deliver within the advertised timeframe or, failing that, within 30 days. Otherwise, customers can demand a full refund. In the event of repeated abuse, you may be subject to sanctions by the DGCCRF.

Shippingbo’s integrated WMS (Warehouse Management System) makes picking faster and more reliable. Using a PDA or tablet, your pickers are guided to the right location, scan the product, and the label is generated automatically. This reduces picking errors and speeds up dispatch.

A lot! In an omnichannel context, selling on several channels (website, marketplaces, etc.) complicates stock updating. Without real-time stock synchronization, you run the risk of stock-outs and delayed deliveries.Shippingbo’s OMS centralizes your orders and unifies your inventory to avoid overselling.

Logistics glossary

Delayed e-commerce delivery

Delivery of a parcel after the deadline announced to the customer. Often leads to disputes or loss of satisfaction.

OMS (Order Management System)

Order management system that centralizes and synchronizes sales and inventory across all channels.

WMS (Warehouse Management System)

Warehouse management software that optimizes picking, storage and order preparation.

TMS (Transport Management System)

Tool that automates carrier selection, label printing and parcel tracking.

Picking

Logistics stage where products are picked up from the warehouse and prepared for shipment.

Out of stock

Situation where a product is no longer available for sale despite a customer order, often caused by poorly synchronized stock.

Omnichannel

Integrated sales strategy across multiple channels (e-commerce site, marketplaces, physical stores).

Real-time synchronization

Immediate updating of data (stock, orders) on all your sales platforms, to avoid errors.