VFM is the main driver for online shoppers
Value for money is the main driver for shoppers going online, according to Royal Mail research. In a statement issued today (14 July), Royal Mail said that the latest edition of its survey on the preferences and habits of UK online shoppers – Delivery Matters – reveals that “while consumers say they are shopping more and spending more online, they have increasingly high expectations of ecommerce retailers when it comes to getting good value”.
According to Royal Mail, VFM was chosen by 84% of consumers as the main driver for shopping online.
Royal Mail added that this focus on value has led shoppers to become “savvier” when it comes to sales.
“Over a quarter (26%) of today’s consumers would hold off placing an online order so they can benefit from a sale event, such as Black Friday or Amazon’s Prime Day,” claimed Royal Mail.
Delivery Matters is Royal Mail’s regular market analysis based on the responses of 1,500 shoppers who have bought non-grocery items online in the last three months. The latest report reveals UK consumers are:
- Shopping more – 63% of respondents report they are doing more shopping online this year
- Spending more – 86% of non-grocery shopping budget is now spent online, up from 80% in 2014, and the average spend is increasing. Consumers spent an average of £287 per person online in the last three months vs £274 spent online in the same period in 2014
- Abandoning their cart less – this year 21% of shoppers claim to frequently abandon their online shopping basket, compared to 32% in 2014.
When it comes to receiving their purchases – the bit that most concerns Post&Parcel.info readers – delivery to the home remains the preferred option, favoured by 71% of online shoppers. Other than the home, the most popular delivery location, and chosen by around a third of shoppers (32%), is delivery to a neighbour. Only 16% favour Click and Collect.
Giving itself a plug, the company reported that “of those online shoppers who have received their purchases via Royal Mail, 81% were extremely satisfied or very satisfied”.
Delivery Matters also found that clothes and books still dominate as ecommerce’s most commonly purchased categories: nearly half (49%) of online shoppers purchase clothes online, with 26% shopping for footwear, and 38% buying physical books.
Roger Morris, Head of Royal Mail Parcels, gave some advance information on the Delivery Matters survey at the Mail and Express Delivery Show, which Triangle Management Services hosted at London’s Olympia Conference and Exhibition Centre on 30 June.
The fully Delivery Matters report can be downloaded here: www.royalmail.com/deliverymatters
