Yesterday, I purchased a subscription to a web-based service. When the transaction was confirmed, I expected to start using the paid features right away. However, the site informed me that I would have to wait up to a full day before my membership was activated. This was a little disappointing, but since they notified me about it, I figured I’d check back later in the day to see if my account was ready.

Sure enough, I got an order confirmation a few hours later, and I was able to begin using the paid features. By letting me know the timeline for processing new orders, the site helped manage my expectations properly. Since my account was ready before they said it would be, I was pretty pleased. Sure, I would have liked to get it sooner, but I have no complaints with how things were handled.

This experience underscores a simple truth in today’s e-commerce world: if you’re selling a product or service that gets delivered entirely via the web, like a software download or website membership, people expect to get immediate access to it. But even if you can’t fulfill things that quickly, simply telling them what sort of turnaround to expect can work wonders in keeping customers well-informed and satisfied with the experience.