Amazon announced recently that near- instant delivery would be soon available for thousands of goods, being trialled first in central London with plans to expand into other areas over the next year. Customers must subscribe to Amazon Prime. If they want delivery within the hour an extra fee of £6.99 is charged. Customers using this service can also select same-day delivery and choose a two hour slot delivery time.
UK consumers are increasingly using the internet for shopping and expecting retailers to provide more convenient delivery times. Most consumers have started to expect a three-hour delivery service. A recent survey carried out by Ipsos Research on behalf of Honeywell showed that customers are not willing to put up with poor delivery options. 53% expected delivery within three hours or less and 40% said they would be willing to pay extra for the perfect delivery where they could state where and when they would like to receive their parcel. A major percent of consumers (57%) said that current delivery offered by retailers was not satisfactory and more than half said that the parcel was being delivered at inconvenient times when they were not at home or wrong delivery times were stated.
With online shopping increasing it is critical that companies listen to what the consumer wants to avoid consumers abandoning their online shopping baskets due to poor delivery options.
At the same time John Lewis has decided to now charge a £2 fee for click-and collect orders which are under the value of £30 from the end of next month. They claim that customers would see that the previously free service is not viable due to the massive logistical operation.
Over the next twelve months Yes Response expect to see further consolidation and changes to delivery costs and services as retailers realise they have to cover their costs whilst retaining customer loyalty.
