There are a mountain of statistics showing that Brits are increasingly jumping on the online shopping bandwagon. However, as beneficial as this is for the retail business, we’ve actually seen that it is leading to a severe case of fear of missed delivery (FOMD) sweeping the nation.
According to recent research conducted by Research Now, as many as two thirds of consumers said that they are afraid to leave the house for fear of missing their parcel. FOMD is getting so bad that a third of people are using up valuable holiday time to take a day off to wait in for a parcel.
In fact, a third of consumers have waited in for a delivery and yet still had the missed delivery card drop on their doormat. Other common delivery woes include 28 percent having a parcel left in an inappropriate place (think bin!) and 39 percent having experienced the pain of waiting in all day for their parcel to be a total no-show. A poor customer experience like this can be seriously bad for business, especially if you think that 59 percent of consumers say that it would make them consider cutting all ties with that retailer. On the other hand, 95 percent of consumers say a positive delivery experience would encourage them to shop more with that retailer in future.
Millennials have long been reported to experience a fear of missing out – analysts call this phenomenon FOMO – but in the world of eCommerce, FOMD is the real threat. Now retailers are under pressure to get the delivery experience just right, particularly as consumers get increasingly demanding for more flexibility, convenience and control. Our research shows that it’s time for retailers to get innovative and it’s positive to see that many consumers are willing to embrace alternative delivery models.
If it means more control over their online retail experience, then UK shoppers are enthusiastic to try out some of the more unusual delivery methods that are being floated. In fact, more than a third of consumers (35 percent) think that drone delivery would work for them. This is particularly true for those aged 18-24, who are three times more likely to take a delivery by drone than those aged 55 and over. As well as this, there is big interest in alternative methods that are a bit less ‘out there’. 76 percent of consumers would go for same day delivery, 73 percent would try Sunday delivery and 69 percent would give one hour delivery a go. Despite these options being available through many providers, it’s going to be interesting to see how many retailers take advantage of what’s on offer and what’s new to the market.
This research really highlights how important delivery is to the customer experience, but we know that retailers aren’t deaf to the need to give consumers more choice and control over deliveries. UK retailers and delivery carriers are working together to innovate to meet the constantly evolving consumer demands. Sunday service is an example of the industry listening to consumers’ demand for more flexibility and as we can see from the stats above, consumers are open to this. As a result, it’s likely we’ll see similar initiatives take off in the not too distant future.
The challenge for retailers is to keep momentum and innovation high and to continue to look for ways to better serve online shoppers. UK eCommerce is at the beginning of an exciting journey and the speed of change and growth will be key to making the UK retail industry a world leader in customer experience.
By Angela O’Connell, Strategy and Marketing Director at MetaPack.
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