Hermes UK home delivery survey – reliable and affordable wins the race
James Cartledge talks to Hermes UK about its latest annual survey of online shoppers, and the insights it brings to the development of home delivery services. The two most important aspects of getting home delivery right in the UK continues to be keeping the cost down, and ensuring that items arrive when promised.
That is the finding of parcel carrier Hermes in its third annual survey of British internet shoppers.
The annual survey is used by Leeds-based Hermes to shape the ongoing development of its delivery services, and this year was carried out in September 2012, and based on a poll of 1,000 shoppers who had made at least three purchases online in the past 12 months.
Its results charted some interesting trends like the increasing proportion of female shoppers, the increasing online purchasing of clothes and larger items and the fact that shoppers no longer have a particular preference for certain days.
But at the heart of the user experience, the overall conclusion is that reliability and cost trumps everything else for UK shoppers when it comes to delivery – more important than speed of delivery, text message notifications, the ability to deliver in the evening or even the presence of a good tracking system.
While those other features are seen to be nice to have, Hermes’ findings suggest UK shoppers are not willing to pay the going rate for them.
“The opportunity for premium services is even less significant than it has been in previous years. This could be the influence of the recession, but it could also be that people are getting used to the standard service,” says Gary Winters, the former Royal Mail head of business development, who recently joined Hermes as sales and marketing director.
Yet while they are not apparently willing to pay full market rate for premium delivery options, the Hermes survey does suggest that to keep consumers happy, retailers need to at least offer different delivery options.
Four in 10 online shoppers would be “significantly” influenced in their sale by having delivery options available, the survey suggests. So the message to retailers is: have different delivery options their for consumers, even if they don’t use them. Just make sure they’re priced correctly.
“Demanding” consumers
Carole Woodhead and Gary Winters of Hermes UK
The Hermes survey includes many findings that might seem obvious – shoppers don’t want to pay over the odds in this tough economy – and confirms trends that the industry is well aware of – shoppers are becoming increasingly demanding on things like customer service.
Winters says: “We are seeing users divided into two types: ‘I want it now’ and ‘I want it for nothing’. And those who want it for nothing are increasingly wanting it now for nothing.”
Yet even with demanding customers, only a “tiny percentage” of UK shoppers are actually basing their purchase decisions on how quickly they can get hold of their products. “They do compare different retailers when they’re shopping,” says Winters, “but it’s not speed, it’s reliability and cost that’s important.”
Even in a highly competitive market, Winters says shoppers seem to have gained more acceptance for having items delivered during the day. But, particularly when workers take time off to receive parcels, parcels must arrive during the promised timeslot.
Getting delivery wrong can cause serious damage to retail brands, with the Hermes survey showing that if consumers have a bad delivery experience, 85% are likely to tell friends and family about it, and nearly a third would probably tell their horror story to at least six people.
Among the retail brands that appear to be suffering at the moment, Argos has seen its percentage of shoppers drop from 28% of Hermes survey respondents last year to 23% this year, Play.com has seen its share cut in half from 23% to 12%, while new market entrant Debenhams seems to be doing well with a 12% share having not offered online sales in 2011.
Amazon continues to show real dominance, with 91% of Hermes survey respondents shopping through the online giant at least every three months.
Delivery convenience
Convenience in delivery is seen as more important than speed of delivery in the Hermes survey results, and this year Hermes has been investigating and developing its services in this direction.
