Internet shoppers in the UK are spending some £3,253 million each year on deliveries, which is about £136 per household, but believe the price is worth it, according to research by OnePoll, commissioned by Trimble.
One quarter of respondents thought delivery costs are too high, but 40 per cent are willing to pay for next day delivery, 22 per cent would pay for delivery within a two-hour slot and nearly three quarters of respondents agree that fast delivery is a key factor when shopping online.
Those surveyed said that they buy more online now than they did five years ago and 88.9 per cent agreed they expect to be spending more or the same online between now and 2017.
Rising petrol costs, lower prices and convenience were that average delivery charges of £2.99 were found to be acceptable. The survey covered 1,000 UK adults.
Thirty per cent of those polled registered dissatisfaction with missing a delivery and the parcel being returned to the depot or post office, 20 per cent with long delivery times, and 29 per cent for high delivery costs; overall contributing to nearly half of all adults feeling unsatisfied with the last delivery to their home.
Mark Forrest, general manager of Trimble’s field service management division, said: “Effective delivery is critical to a positive service experience, but the study shows that many companies are not meeting their customer’s needs.
“The key is keeping commitments; making ones that the company can keep and then ensuring the customer is informed along the way. As the online era is here to stay retailers have a real opportunity to improve their brand recognition and leapfrog the competition by providing excellent customer service.”
