The top 5 crucial customer stats on eCommerce delivery.
Knowing your customer is crucial for eCommerce sellers to succeed in creating the best possible customer experience. And knowing the Consumer attitudes towards delivery should be at the heart of your eCommerce delivery management strategy.
As shoppers of all ages flocked online and stayed online in the last year, customer expectations around delivery are at an all-time high.
So how has the last 12 months affected online shoppers’ delivery preferences? We’ve assembled the most up to date research here to present the top stats you need to know about eCommerce delivery in 2021.
59% of consumers say a positive delivery experience has encouraged them to make a repeat purchase – IMRG
1. Free Delivery
43% of shoppers expect free delivery as standard – Royal Mail
The number of shoppers that say they expect free delivery has reduced in the last year, from 47% in 2019 to 43% who expect free delivery as standard in 2020.
45% say free delivery increases their probability that they would complete a purchase. Free delivery is a great influencer when it comes to a customer returning to buy from the same retailer.
The number of shoppers inclined to add to their basket in order to meet the requirement for free delivery has increased this year, from 26% in 2020 compared to 22% in 2019.
Preferences for free delivery varies across online age demographics, is more likely to sway older shoppers as 27% of over 55s are inclined to shop with a retailer that offers free delivery versus 19% of 18 to 34-year-olds.≠
2. Delivery options
4 in 5 consumers (86%) prefer when retailers offer a variety of delivery speeds – Royal Mail
Offering a range of delivery options at checkout is proven to increase conversion. And 4 in 5 shoppers say a range of delivery speeds are important to them.
Standard delivery is still the most popular with shoppers saying they’ve used it on average 11 times in the last year but offering Next day and Next day timed is still essential as shoppers say they’ve used those services 3.4 times and twice, respectively in the last year.
3. Delivery locations
66% of UK shoppers prefer home delivery – Royal Mail
It’s no surprise that the majority of shoppers (66%) said that home was their preferred delivery location during the pandemic year as that’s where most people were for the first time. The upside of everyone being at home meant that online orders fulfilled
to households were typically delivered successfully.
94% of consumers said their home deliveries were successful first time. This is the highest figure since IMRG started monitoring delivery performance.
Offering Click & Collect as a delivery option increased in popularity in the last year, with 59% of online shoppers availing of such services, a safe and “contactless” fulfilment method. Many retailers even offered a drive-through option.
Why shoppers chose Click and Collect?
📦 50% said because it was free.
📦 42% said because it was more convenient.
Interestingly 82% of shoppers are unwilling to pay for Click and Collect and distance to travel is also a factor, approximately half of shoppers are only willing to travel two to five miles to collect an order, over that distance and the method becomes inconvenient.
4. Reliable Delivery
45% of UK expect an estimated day or time of day delivery for their online orders – Royal Mail
Customers value reliable delivery, even more so than speedy delivery. Orders arriving when shoppers expect them builds trust and brand loyalty. 64% of people look to retailer online ratings as an influential factor when choosing who to shop with. The delivery experience drives the nature of reviews that customers leave for sellers.
Customers expect to receive windows for their delivery times. A third of people (32%) expect information about the timing of their delivery within 24 hours of ordering.
📅 45% expect an estimated day or time of day delivery
⏱ 33% expect a delivery window within 1-2 hours
📦 22% expect a delivery window of 3-4 hours
5. Delivery Tracking updates
81% of UK shoppers consider Tracking updates as important – Royal Mail
It’s crucial that shoppers are kept informed on the status of their delivery, this is increasingly important to customers. Providing a range of delivery updates should be a key focus for retailers. Offering sophisticated tracking is an invaluable way of providing a seamless delivery experience to online shoppers.
🚚 74% of shoppers say they are more confident ordering online when they can track their order.
📱44% of consumers prefer tracking their orders on an app more than laptop
AUTHOR
Laura Roche Marketing Executive, Scurri
Laura Roche is a Marketing Executive at Scurri, managing social media and content marketing. Laura shares breaking news in the eCommerce space with our readers as well as sharing insights across the delivery and logistics landscape.