A survey of 6500 online customers around the world by marketing solutions company Connexity has looked at the key drivers for shoppers in regard delivery methods in the run up to Christmas.
74% said that cost is the most important factor. Free delivery for the customer will often dictate whether they continue through the shopping cart to purchase. Same day delivery is one of the big things that e-commerce companies are offering to their customers, but where 50% of customers in the survey said that speed of delivery was important, the cost of delivery was the most important in many cases.
Many sectors of e-commerce are driving toward same day delivery and this is a major factor in some cases. With auto parts, toys and video games, and food and drink 8% of customers said that they would abandon their carts if free delivery was not an option. 50% of those who had received their goods that day needed it urgently, where again 29% of those who received their goods that day were offered it for free as part of the order.
Same day delivery is a major buzzword in the industry, and is being offered to many Amazon Prime and Argos Fast Track customers in the UK. However, only 10% of deliveries in the UK were delivered on the same day as they were ordered in the last 12 months.
The research looked at age groups, and the so-called Millennials found cost to be less important, with 69% finding cost important, but 30% wanting same day delivery. 80% of those who were around at the beginning of the e-commerce revolution – the ‘seniors’ among us – found that cost is more of an issue than same day delivery.
Overall, in future it seems that the cost of delivery though important today may be less so, while speed is the way to go?