More than half of shoppers (54%) say they base their shopping choices on what the delivery options are, a new study suggests.
And 39% say they will not shop with an online retailer again if they have a negative delivery experience, while 43% have used social media platforms to share their displeasure at a poor delivery experience with others, according to the MetaPack 2017 State of eCommerce Delivery Consumer Research Report.
Some 3,577 consumers from seven countries including the UK, France, Germany and the US took part in the study. From the findings, MetaPack says retailers and brands cannot afford to become complacent about the strategic role that delivery plays in their ecommerce strategies since, it argues, delivery has the power to make or break the online shopping experience. The study also found that half of all shoppers would abandon online shopping baskets if delivery choices on offer are unsatisfactory and 60% will buy their goods from one online retailer over another if they offer more convenient delivery options. More than half (54%) would like to see one-hour online deliveries in metropolitan areas.
Shoppers were also asked how Brexit would change their international shopping habits. More than half (58%) said the UK’s departure from the EU would make no difference to how they buy, with French (67%), Dutch (65%) and Italian (62%) shoppers the most likely to keep buying goods. Just over a quarter (27%) of US shoppers said that post Brexit, they’ll be buying even more goods from the UK.
“This is the first time that we have been able to address the topic of the UK leaving the EU with such a large number of overseas consumers and it is heartening to see the sentiments expressed,” said Bruce Fair, chief revenue officer at MetaPack . “However, when we asked what the deterrents would be to purchasing from the UK, we found that over three quarters (77%) of shoppers said if goods became more expensive than those they could purchase locally and 63% said if delivery costs increased.”