Consumers abandon their shopping basket when delivery options do not meet their expectations or needs. That's according to the MetaPack 2016 State of eCommerce Delivery Consumer Research Report. Moreover, after a negative delivery experience, consumers tend not to return to the same shop.
MetaPack conducted the survey among online shoppers in Europe's six largest e-commerce markets based on sales (UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands) and in the United States. In the Netherlands, 502 consumers were surveyed. 43 per cent of consumers said they would not go back to that shop within a month after a negative delivery experience, and 38 per cent said they would probably never buy anything from that shop again. As many as 45 per cent of respondents have occasionally abandoned their basket on an e-commerce website because of unsatisfactory or unavailable delivery options. Return policy is another key pillar for consumers. 49 per cent of consumers say that an online shop's return policy has ever stopped them from buying something.
Moment of truth
"This year's survey results highlight the increasingly important role of delivery as part of an e-commerce strategy," explains Kees de Vos, Chief Product & Marketing Officer of MetaPack. "As their desire for perfection continues to grow, consumers now view delivery as a core aspect of an online retailer's shopping proposition. For them, delivery remains a 'moment of truth' that ultimately characterises their entire shopping experience and underpins their purchase decisions and loyalty."
What do consumers want?
In the survey, shoppers indicated that they would like more flexible delivery options that go beyond the original transaction. For example, 46 per cent of respondents want the freedom to make changes to their delivery arrangements immediately.
In major cities, shoppers prefer delivery within an hour. 47 per cent want online shops to offer this option. In the Netherlands, only 29 per cent of consumers have this requirement.
There is also a growing desire for more expensive same-day delivery. This year, demand for more expensive same-day delivery almost doubled in all countries surveyed. Especially Italian (33 per cent), British (28 per cent) and American (22 per cent) consumers found this attractive, while 22 per cent of all respondents have used a same-day delivery option in the past six months. The Dutch are less inclined than other Europeans to pay extra if it gives them the assurance that their parcel will be delivered the next day even during peak periods. 58 per cent do not want to spend extra money on this.
Returns as a differentiation weapon
Paying for returns seems unacceptable to consumers. 39 per cent of respondents say they always look at a seller's return policy before buying something. Dutch webshops could improve on this, by the way: 49 per cent of Dutch respondents said that information about the returns procedure is often hard to find on the sites. 47 per cent of Dutch people prefer dropping off at a Pick Up/Drop Off point to return products bought online, while 33 per cent of Dutch people prefer to have parcels collected at home by a courier. Which is a big difference from France where only 9 per cent prefer a courier at the door.
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