According to a survey of approximately 1,000 online consumers in the UK by e-commerce shipping platform Sendcloud, consumers are facing increasing delays in online delivery times, with 41% claiming that their most recent order was delayed.
The survey found that 71% of respondents have had a negative delivery experience within the past three months, including delays (41%), deliveries in different time slots (21%), parcels left in insecure locations (19%) or not turning up at all (10%). Around one in five online shoppers (19%) were forced to wait between two and five days on top of the estimated delivery time, and 22% never received a notification of impending delays. Other issues in the report include consumers receiving invalid tracking numbers (11%), incorrect tracking information (10%) and not being able to change the time of delivery (10%). Rising costs due to inflation will also affect the shopping plans of 47% of respondents this year, and increased labor costs (46%), product shortages (45%) and supply chain delays (40%) are also top concerns.
Sendcloud’s findings come as Royal Mail workers are expected to go on strike on September 8-9. Initiatives such as the UK government’s Generation Logistics suggest staff shortages are an ongoing issue.
Sendcloud stated, “Delivery expectations, inflation and staff shortages are pushing shipping providers to the edge. Bottlenecks are being created further down the line, and delivery experiences continue to decline as consumer wait times increase. Working with multiple carriers means retailers can switch between shipping networks if supply chains become congested and better balance demand between logistics suppliers. By offering multiple shipping options, consumers can decide where, when and how they want to receive their order and therefore a more positive experience. A pro tip is to offer shipping to service points, as the delivery guarantee here is 100%, which reduces the pressure on delivery staff and shortens the delivery time.”
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