New research from Whistl, the leading delivery management company, has found that UK shoppers are not averse to paying for delivery for online purchases; if the fee isn’t too high.

The survey of 1000 respondents found that two thirds said that overall they would not expect free delivery when placing orders online. However, when purchases go over £10 consumers begin to expect free delivery options.

The survey found that people are willing to pay between £2-4 for a delivery but 67% will not continue with an online purchase if the delivery fee is deemed too high.

The majority of respondents (75%) said that the amount they will pay online is unaffected by the offer of free delivery but, surprisingly, a third of consumers overbuy to avoid delivery and return charges.    

Consumers are prepared to wait longer for their delivery if they can get free delivery. With 50% of shoppers willing to wait an extra two to three days for free delivery. With 28% willing to wait an additional four to five days.

A wake-up call for UK e-tailers is the research finding that over half of UK customers prefer to buy internationally and experience longer delivery times if it means avoiding a delivery fee.

The full details of the survey can be found here: Free delivery for online purchases survey

Melanie Darvall, Director Marketing & Communications Whistl, said:

“It is clear from the research that retailers need to take into consideration how much they charge for delivery and what the minimum spend should be, as this is having a direct impact on how much people spend on online purchases or whether they buy anything at all. 

“We were surprised to find that nearly a third of consumers would purposefully overbuy with the intention of sending items back, purely in order to qualify for the free delivery. The UK consumer is complex and requires bespoke delivery solutions that enable the retailers to maximise the sales opportunity without impact on profit margins.”

Source: http://couriernews.co.uk/