UK consumers will wait at home for an average of over 140 minutes for online shopping deliveries this Christmas, costing the country an equivalent of over £850m. There is clearly a way to go to ensure that the retail back end catches up with the promise of an omnichannel world.

UK consumers will wait at home for an average of over 140 minutes for online shopping deliveries this Christmas, costing the country an equivalent of over £850m. There is clearly a way to go to ensure that the retail back end catches up with the promise of an omnichannel world. However, 2013 has been a year where fulfilment has come into focus and consumer preference is driving innovation in delivery.

Convenience is king

People want delivery to fit into their daily routine, not those of the delivery agents. According to insight from IMRG, click and collect services have recorded growth of 33% in 2013. The emergence of locker providers alongside a growing group of parcel collection services at convenience stores has provided real dynamism in the sector. More recently, we have seen Asda and then Amazon announce relationships with Transport for London (TfL) which will enable commuters to pick up orders that are delivered to a ‘transit’ collection point as we head into 2014.

Mobile delivery

EBay has introduced its new service eBay Now across five US cities. By downloading an app onto a mobile device, eBay can track the device’s GPS signal, delivering to “wherever you are within our [eBay] delivery zones.” Amazon has also revealed its delivery drones, although it won’t be here for a few years yet, if ever, and doesn’t address the need for a returns service.

Rise in returns

Returns is an area increasingly in need of retailer focus, and possibly innovation, and something we’ve been focusing on at CollectPlus. There is an increasing enthusiasm for Black Friday and Mega Monday. But, with cash flow still crucially important for business, ‘Boomerang Thursday’ – when online customer returns peak in the immediate aftermath of these two huge online sales days – gives retailers an opportunity to quickly recover unwanted and get valuable items back into the supply chain.

Speed is important, but personalisation is more so

Customers want reliability and accuracy as a priority over speed. The push for same day and next day delivery is not the be all and end all. The growth in the market is without doubt in the slower services and increasingly those that offer precise delivery times. These options give both the consumer the choice of when they want their purchase to be delivered, and the carrier the ability to plan for success.

Our own research shows that the average person wastes almost 32 hours waiting for deliveries every year. In 2014 customers will want delivery on their terms – it’s up to us to provide choice, and give them their valuable time back.

Neil Ashworth is chief executive of CollectPlus

Topics