iForce’s Delivery Options research including most likely days of activity for online shoppers

iForce retail research 

Online shoppers are: More likely to collect from store on a Tuesday, More likely to have a parcel delivered after 6pm on a weekday, and More likely to choose Saturday as a named delivery day

London July 2013 iForce, multichannel logistics specialist for top UK retailers including Cath Kidston, John Lewis, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose Wine, has undertaken its biannual comprehensive Delivery Options Research, across a sample of selected UK retailers. The research highlights how changes in the e-Retail industry have driven retailers to amend their range of delivery options and charges, since iForce’s last research in November 2012.
The results give an interesting insight into online shoppers’ needs and preferences, particularly highlighting the most popular days and times for deliveries.

Delivery days:
• Standard and next day orders are most likely to be delivered on a Thursday (29.2% and 23.34% respectively). Named day orders are 27.92% on Saturdays, and Tuesday is the most popular day for Collect from Store (16.68%). 
• Almost 50% of retailers now offer a Saturday delivery service, up 4% points in just 6 months.
• The number of retailers offering a post 18:00 order cut off has increased to 35% of the sample and is now the most popular cut off time category (in November this was 15:00-18:00).
• 61% of retailers now offer a cut off time after 15:00, up from 31% in October 2009. 

Click and Collect is on the rise again:
• Click and Collect has once again increased by 8% points, with 54% of retailers now providing the service. 
• SMS is increasingly being used to provide consumers with more detailed information about their Collect from store orders. 73% of e-Retailers offered information on how long the item would stay in store before being classed as ‘uncollected’ and returned to the distribution centre. 

Delivery charges are reducing, with better informed consumers now abandoning fewer baskets before purchase:
• The average standard charge for delivery has reduced by a significant amount, £1.33 to £3.43, with next day charge also reducing by £0.32 to £5.96.
• Standard delivery charges have dropped an average of £0.75 on each delivery order.
• Retailers have reduced ‘nasty surprises’ at the end of the online process, with more transparent delivery costs information upfront for the consumer.

The ‘Returns’ sector is a crucial part of the online shopping experience. Retailers are realising the importance of communicating their Returns processes to consumers upon purchase:
• 51% of assessed retailers offered a free returns option for consumers; only 3% of online stores had shown a definite returns cost price with the average return being £4.16. 
• 48% offered free returns with labels and freepost. 

iForce Director of Client Services, Geoff Taylor, said: “Click and Collect is still continuing to grow at pace, and the new on-demand style of shopping is showing a continued trend in the online shoppers’ week. It’s all about Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, or after work, for the consumer now, and the e-Retailers are responding in their droves.”

The next Delivery Options Research will be released in November 2013.

July 2013
NB. Research completed in April 2013 across 77 retailers.

iForce 
Twitter: @iforcegroup
Facebook: iForceLimited

iForce boilerplate: 
iForce is a service business that operates in the specialist area of multichannel retail logistics, offering end-to-end solutions to its clients’ business challenges, thereby enabling them to achieve their multichannel aspirations. Founded in 1998, iForce has pioneered the development of traditional fulfilment skills, processes and technologies, initially for the on-line world but more latterly the wider multichannel retail environment. These skills and experience, coupled with their proven processes and levels of recovery on returns processing, means that iForce is positioned as the independent market leader in the provision of such specialised, but vital, services at the heart of the current online retail revolution .

iForce has approximately 650 staff and over 1.2 million square feet of warehouse space in seven UK locations serving the UK and Continental Europe. Clients today include: Cath Kidston, Fortnum and Mason, John Lewis, VTech, Waitrose Wine and Sainsbury’s for multi-channel and e-fulfilment, Tesco, Screwfix and House of Fraser for Reverse Logistics and Greene King for ‘Point of Sale’ replenishment.

Over the last ten years, through its bespoke proprietary systems and the unrivalled experience of its staff, iForce has won and maintained contracts with some of the UK’s premium and biggest brands.

In June 2013, iForce was awarded ‘Logistics Supplier of the Year’ at the Grocer Gold Awards, described as “THE go-to click & collect logistics provider in the UK”. In December 2012 iForce was also awarded a Best Business Award for ‘Best Customer Focus’. iForce’s attention to detail and commitment to its retail clients led to its win, being described by the judges as ‘a powerhouse behind a number of famous retail brands’