Retailers must offer easy and convenient ecommerce delivery options if they are not to be faced with abandoned shopping baskets, a new study confirms this week.
MetaPack’s Delivering consumer choice: 2015 state of ecommerce delivery report found that 66% of the 3,000 adults surveyed said they’d opted to buy from one retailer over another because the product could be delivered in a more convenient manner. Meanwhile, 51% of shoppers said they had failed to complete an online order because of delivery options. Reasons given included that delivery could not be guaranteed by a certain date (30%) or would take too long to fulfil (44%). More than three-quarters of shoppers said they checked retailers’ return options before placing an order, and 51% said they hadn’t made a purchase because the returns process wasn’t easy or convenient for them.
Home delivery remained popular with all consumers, and 90% of survey respondents had used this options in the last six months. Some 47% of UK shoppers said their next most preferred option was collect in store – and 38% said they hadn’t completed an order because in-store pick-up was unavailable. Low cost delivery was a priority for 49% of consumers, with 88% saying that free delivery was important. Some 83% of UK shoppers said they were happier to wait longer for delivery if goods were less expensive.
“This clearly highlights how ecommerce directors that continue to focus solely on making changes to front-end website capabilities are missing out on an increasingly obvious and more significant opportunity to drive conversion – providing delivery services that meet each customer’s personal, complex demands,” said Kees de Vos, chief product and marketing officer at MetaPack.
