A survey of Londoners has found that existing delivery options are not flexible enough for shoppers and are risking retailers’ reputations. The survey showed that 89% of Londoners felt that delivery providers have an influence over their decision to purchase from a particular retailer, but more than two-thirds (67%) said time slots are too vague and almost a third (31%) said that delivery options are not flexible enough to fit their lifestyles.
More than half (54%) said that they had a minimum expectation that retailers should offer deliveries that are within an hour of a requested, time, date and location with almost one-in-six (16%) expecting retailers to offer deliveries at an exact time of the customer’s choice.
Almost all (96%) said that providing delivery at an exact time slot determines who they shop with.
The survey of 1,000 respondents across London was conducted by Vitreous World on behalf of Brisqq.
“In the current retail climate, bricks and mortar stores need to provide more choice and flexibility if they want to remain relevant,” said Andrew Mukerjee, co-founder and CEO, Brisqq. “The research highlights the growing demand for fast and flexible deliveries, likely because of the choice and convenience offered by e-commerce giants such as Amazon. This is often neglected when it comes to offline retail,” he said.
The research also showed that 79% of respondents said that the delivery tracking of traditional services is not always accurate.
“Retailers should consider the latest logistics technologies to meet shoppers’ growing demand for flexible but accurate delivery”, said Mukerjee. “By using disruptive delivery technologies paired with crowdsourcing freelance ‘couriers’, retailers can begin to match shoppers’ expectations for deliveries that are within an hour of their requested time, date and location. With over 60% of Londoners now using on-demand logistics services such as Deliveroo, Uber and Amazon Prime at least once a month, there is huge potential for the bricks and mortar retailers to win back customers if they get their delivery offering right”.
Image credit: Fotolia
