There may be a growing trend of fast delivery in the ecommerce sector, but for consumers speed still remains behind other key drivers of shopping online; a recent RetailX survey has found.
Nearly 42% of EU consumers see fast delivery as an important factor when purchasing online, however this is overshadowed by the retailer’s reliability, which tops the list at 59%. Product availability, price, payment options and an easy returns policy all sit higher in consumer’s priorities than fast delivery.
It seems that next-day delivery currently remains the favoured option for European consumers. When asked to consider purchases in the past 12 months how important next-day was, a third said it was for the majority of their purchases.
Furthermore, over half (56%) of EU’s online consumers are willing to pay extra for next-day delivery, 54% are willing to fork out to get products on the same-day.
Another option a growing number of consumers across Europe are willing to pay extra for is sustainable delivery. There have been moves by consumers and retailers alike to move towards greener and more circular offerings. To this end, over 46% of consumers not only favour sustainable delivery methods, but are willing to pay extra for it.
This is interesting considering the recent introduction of charges for the reverse logistics of returns. Many in the industry were concerned that such returns charges would deter potential customers, especially when ease of returns remains such an important factor to many of them.
The question therefore needs to be asked – if shoppers are willing to pay for green delivery, why aren’t they for green returns?
This is an excerpt from the DeliveryX Top1000 Europe 2023 Report. Download the full report, which expands on the RetailX operations value chain sector of the Top1000 report and delves further, starting with the supply chain, logistics, and the delivery experience. It also covers how retailers are minimising returns and deploying data and technology to succeed in what has been another challenging year.
