According to the E-Shopper Barometer report, the most popular method of delivery for online purchases in Europe is courier delivery to a home address, preferred by as many as 84% of surveyed internet users. Consumers are also increasingly using pickup and drop-off points (16% of responses) and parcel lockers (8%). For 89% of customers, free delivery is one of the most important factors encouraging them to make purchases in a given e-shop.
– Customers expect effective delivery on the very first attempt, which is why the best solution is to deliver parcels to the place where the recipient spends most of the day. This is not always home, especially on working days, which is why alternative delivery locations such as the office or a pickup and drop-off point are gaining popularity – explains Rafał Nawłoka, CEO of DPD Polska.
12% of respondents prefer to pick up their ordered parcel at their workplace. Delivery to a pickup and drop-off point is particularly popular in France, where more than half of buyers use this method. In the Baltic countries, on the other hand, parcel lockers are quite popular. More than 80% of Estonians use this form of collection. In Poland, home delivery dominates (82%), and 12% of consumers in our country use pickup and drop-off points. 18% of Polish internet users pick up parcels at their workplace.
Free delivery (89%) and transparent logistics service costs (91%) can encourage potential customers to shop in an online store. Consumers also expect efficient next-day delivery (86%).
– Online store managers should be proactive today and effectively encourage consumers who prefer the traditional retail channel to shop online. The shopping path should be as intuitive as possible so that the recipient appreciates the ease of the ordering or return process, even though they are accustomed to traditional shopping in a brick-and-mortar store – says Rafał Nawłoka.
Increasingly aware European consumers also require additional services and greater flexibility in deliveries from courier companies. 83% of respondents expect courier delivery with the option to change the collection date, and 80% want to know the time of parcel delivery by the courier in advance.
– In response to customer expectations, we introduced the Predict service to the market a few years ago, thanks to which the recipient receives the courier’s contact details along with interactive information about the planned delivery time. Another important convenience is the launch by DPD of a tool facilitating parcel returns, thanks to which the entire procedure for the recipient takes place with just a few mouse clicks – explains Rafał Nawłoka.
The E-Shopper Barometer report developed by DPDgroup is the first and most comprehensive report on online shopping trends in the European market. It was prepared by Kantar TNS, which collected opinions from 23,450 online respondents in 21 European countries. The DPDgroup E-Shopper Barometer study was conducted by Kantar TNS between September 19 and October 7, 2016. Online interviews were conducted with 23,450 internet users in 21 European countries: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.