UK retailers each lose £183,000 a year as a result of lost deliveries, a poll of 300 retailers in the UK, Germany and the US by PCA Predict has found.
The UK figure is higher than for Germany (£108,000) and the US (£156,000).
The poll also found that UK shoppers suffered disproportionately from late or failed deliveries, with 73 per cent affected, compared to 66 per cent in the US and 48 per cent in Germany.
The average cost to a retailer of a failed delivery was £14.35 in the UK compared to an average of £12.89 for all three countries.
Almost two thirds of the retailers polled said failed or late deliveries are a significant cost to their business. The report found that following a failed delivery, 54 per cent of retailers will refund the delivery charges to the customer, 54 per cent will pay additional costs for redelivery, and 38 per cent will offer the customer a discount as an apology.
Chris Boaz of PCA Predict said: “To mitigate against the issues caused by incorrect address data, retailers need to implement verification solutions that allow customers to provide as accurate data as possible.”
