When happy-making products meet not-so-happy delivery risks, it’s trust and revenue on the line. 

When your brand promises happy-making products, the last thing you want to deliver is disappointment. Yet, so many things can go wrong, especially in the last mile: packages marked “delivered” that never arrive, fragile items arriving shattered, orders lost without explanation.

For Yamazaki Home — a brand devoted to joyful living through thoughtfully designed home goods — those risks weren’t hypothetical. They were persistent challenges that threatened to undermine consumer trust.

Because when a package goes missing, joy turns into frustration. And even a single bad delivery experience can chip away at trust and lifetime value.

Unfortunately, Yamazaki Home isn’t alone. Across the industry, delivery issues are on the rise, reshaping consumer behavior, threatening loyalty, and putting revenue at risk.

Why delivery risk is changing the way consumers shop

Today’s consumers are wary, and with good reason. New data from Narvar’s 2025 State of Post-Purchase report reveals that 66% of consumers feel anxious at least some of the time after placing an online order. 

They’re worried about where their package is, when it will arrive, and whether it will arrive at all. And those fears aren’t unfounded. We found that 86% of consumers have experienced a delivery issue in their lifetime. In 2024 alone, more than 85 million packages were damaged, costing retailers nearly $3 billion. Porch piracy remains a persistent threat, too, with 41% of consumers reporting they’ve had a package stolen.

For retailers like Yamazaki Home, the cost of poor delivery experiences isn’t just financial — it’s operational, emotional, and reputational.

“We were having problems with missing shipments, damaged shipments, tracking numbers showing up as ‘delivered, not received.’ We didn’t have any kind of delivery protection program in place. So, we were eating the costs of sending those replacements or refunds to customers.”

— Zachary Eller, assistant marketing manager at Yamazaki Home 

For home goods brands, trust doesn’t ship separately

Delivery anxiety isn’t just something consumers endure — it’s something that actively shapes behavior. We found that 62% say the threat of porch piracy sometimes or regularly prevents them from shopping online. Similarly, 64% say the threat of delivery issues (damage or delays) sometimes or regularly prevents them from shopping online. 

And that trust in a brand directly influences whether a purchase happens in the first place. In fact, 88% of consumers say they need to trust a brand before they’ll consider buying from it. 

Trust is especially important in a category like home goods, where the stakes are high. Consumers are often spending more — Yamazaki’s average order value (AOV) is over $100 — and ordering products that are functional and potentially fragile. A misplaced package or a scratched item isn’t just an inconvenience. It undermines the thoughtful experience the brand has worked so hard to craft.

Yamazaki Home stands out by making every shopper feel genuinely cared for. 

“We wanted our site to have a very seamless and smooth approach that offers a sense of trust, so customers feel comfortable purchasing directly from the brand. They know if they buy from us, they’re going to be taken care of.”

— Zachary Eller, assistant marketing manager at Yamazaki Home

Given how central joy and trust are to Yamazaki Home’s brand promise, it became clear that the delivery experience needed to reflect the same level of care and intentionality. 

Shipment protection ensures peace of mind and protects margins

Offering shipping insurance was a natural next step for Yamazaki Home in fostering peace of mind and safeguarding both the shopper relationship and the bottom line.

But the decision to explore shipment protection was also rooted in other business needs. Zachary Eller, assistant marketing manager at Yamazaki Home, set out to solve a series of operational and experience-based challenges:

• Automate the claims resolution process. The existing approach was entirely manual — and costly. Fulfilling replacements without a verification process and eligibility rules in place wasn’t scalable, especially with an AOV around $100.

• Retain and protect revenue. Reships and refunds were eating into margins. The team needed a solution that could reduce loss while also unlocking a potential new revenue stream.
  
  
• Reduce support volume. Delivery failures were creating avoidable strain on the customer service team. Yamazaki aimed to ease that burden by preventing escalations before they happened.
  
  
• Use data to drive improvements. Without an automated way to track and analyze claims, it was difficult to spot patterns. The team wanted to use insights from delivery issues to make smarter decisions.
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And while those goals were important, one north star guided it all: Delivering an exceptional consumer experience rooted in confidence, transparency, and follow-through, ensuring the consumer journey was a joyful one. 

How Yamazaki Home builds confidence in the post-purchase experience

To reinforce trust at the point of purchase, Yamazaki Home added shipping insurance directly into the shopper experience with Narvar Secure.

Already using Narvar Shield for returns, the team saw an opportunity to integrate shipment protection seamlessly into existing consumer-facing workflows.

“We looked into different insurance options in the past. None of them really worked. We were already using Narvar for returns, so adding insurance was a seamless experience. Shoppers could add shipment protection at checkout and make claims right through our existing returns portal.”

— Zachary Eller, assistant marketing manager at Yamazaki Home

The backend experience was just as smooth: Claims could be approved automatically, refunds and replacements processed with minimal lift, and design and opt-in options customized to match the brand.

Shipment protection increased conversion rates by 5%

Since launching shipment protection, Yamazaki Home has seen a meaningful return — not just financially, but operationally and experientially.

In the first four months, the brand achieved a 40% attach rate, driving over $12,000 in incremental revenue and saving nearly $8,000 in claims paid by insurance. The added confidence at checkout also contributed to a more than 5% lift in conversion, proving that trust can, in fact, move the needle.

But the impact didn’t stop at revenue. Claims resolution became both faster and more accurate. What once took four to five days, on average, is now resolved a few days faster, thanks to automation and streamlined workflows. 

“Before, we were doing our best to respond, but if you don’t reply within a few hours, people start assuming you're just a scam website. Having the form right there on the site — with an automatic ‘your claim has been submitted’ message — gives the whole experience a sense of trustworthiness.”

— Zachary Eller, assistant marketing manager at Yamazaki Home

Support teams also saw fewer inquiries, with self-serve tools deflecting the volume of claims that would’ve previously been handled manually.

Internally, the team gained valuable insights from the claims data. With easier exports and reporting, they began cross-referencing sales and damage reports at the SKU level to spot trends.

“We always looked at photos of damage before, but it took more time and effort. Now we can run an export, get our damage rate on a SKU basis, and spot if a particular product is getting damaged the same way. If it is, maybe we redesign the packaging. Secure has made it much easier to make those decisions.”

— Zachary Eller, assistant marketing manager at Yamazaki Home

That kind of trust doesn’t just set Yamazaki Home apart — it increases conversion, drives revenue, and builds lifetime shopper relationships.

A win-win: Building trust and unlocking a new revenue stream

For Yamazaki Home, offering shipment protection wasn’t just about mitigating risk — it was about reinforcing trust at the moment it matters most. By giving consumers the option to protect their purchase, the brand empowered them with choice, confidence, and control.

In today’s ecommerce landscape, where uncertainty can derail even the best brand experiences, winning the hearts of online shoppers is no longer a luxury — it’s a competitive advantage.