UK consumers expect better online shopping experiences
BII
Nearly three-quarters (73%) of UK adults said they’d choose an alternative online retailer due to a poor online shopping experience, according to JDA & Centiro’s Customer Pulse Report UK 2016.
As the e-commerce market continues to grow, consumers are expecting an elevated online shopping experience. One of the most important stages for the UK consumer while shopping online relates to fulfillment across various delivery methods.
E-commerce sales in the UK experienced 15% year-over-year growth in Q1 2016, with click and collect ordering becoming increasingly popular. Click and collect, by which consumers order online and pickup in-store, was used by 54% of respondents over the past 12 months, up from 49% the prior year.
At the same time, the survey showed that 45% of consumers who ordered via click and collect experienced a problem with their order, citing long-wait times (35%) as the main problem.
Overall, 53% of UK adults said they had a problem with an online order during the last 12 months, with late delivery (53%) the most common complaint. There approximately 43 million online shoppers in the UK, according to the Ecommerce Foundation.
The problem for most retailers is with last-mile delivery, or the actual delivery of the product to the consumer’s home. And with the report from JDA & Centiro noting that 66% of UK adults plan to order online and choose home delivery within the next five years, retailers are under pressure to improve fulfillment.
That’s because delivery problems reflect negatively upon the retailer — 60% of UK adults believe that poor delivery is the fault of the retailer and not the delivery company. Companies therefore may choose to strengthen in-house logistics in order to minimize risks associated with last-mile delivery. For example, Amazon recently expanded its in-house logistics to include air cargo and sea freight in an effort to better manage their shipments around the globe. Other companies may follow Amazon’s approach and begin to expand their logistics capabilities.
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