Meeting Demand: Shipping Holiday Gifts with Newfound Velocity

As consumers continue to begin their holiday spending rendezvous earlier, thanks to omnichannel options, they want reliable delivery that is fast and nimble. That's what Austin-based Convey found when they surveyed more than 2,500 US consumers identifies the trends and themes that will define the online shopping experience this holiday and beyond. Their report, Shoppers Have a Need for Speed – Not Just Free Shipping – This Holiday Season, found that “twice as many consumers saying speed is a critical factor this year versus last.” Consumers are increasingly concerned with how quickly their packages will arrive at their door. Compare this to just a couple of decades ago, where consumers were content with shipping speeds of 5-7 business days.

Fast and Free Shipping Please

"The fast, free shipping enjoyed by an estimated 100 million subscribers to Amazon's Prime service is setting a high bar for the retail industry as a whole," the company's report on their findings stated. While cost was cited as a primary concern by shoppers about their holiday shopping, speed was second. In most categories it was a primary or secondary concern for browsing online. Those concerned about our speed of delivery nearly doubled since last year's survey.

Faster estimated delivery date (EDD) in the online shopping cart has a big impact on purchase decisions, with 28.6% of shoppers saying they'd be more likely to buy if the order would arrive within a week, compared with just 7.5% who say the shipping date doesn't impact their likelihood to buy.

Call it the Amazon effect, or the very fact that consumers are just plain accustomed to getting their merchandise as fast as the lickety-split tempo of Amazon prime-day deliveries, but if I were a retailer, I'd be very aware that consumers just might take their business elsewhere if they can get it faster – even if that consumer doesn't need it faster. It seems we've been shaped by expectations. Faster is better. Speedier delivery is a factor of comparison between vendors and can sway a purchase decision.

Holiday shipping season is upon us, and retailers will be in a constant rush to fulfill demand.

That may be why the study also found that 8 in 10 respondents cited ‘free 2-day shipping’ as important. And that doesn't mean: order it, and I'll pick it up at the nearest store (very often the nearest store lists the product as "unavailable" for pick-up at that store).

The ability to pick up the package at the nearest store certainly is not as important as free 2-day delivery. By contrast, 30.8% of respondents said ‘in-store pickup’ is important, suggesting that the alternative retailers have come to rely on as a means for competing on fast and free fulfillment pales in comparison to speedy delivery. In addition to speed, supply chains must be ready, it seems, earlier than in the past. The holiday season at least feels like it's moving earlier in the year, with more folks starting holiday shopping before they have.

Deliver the Goods – Or Risk Losing Business

When it comes to delivery, you better watch out, you better not cry... you know how the rest goes. But this is especially true if you're a retailer. The Convey survey found that:

“More than 8 in 10 shoppers (83.7%) say that delivery is important to overall shopping experience, up from 73.6% in 2018. And for 4 in 10 shoppers (43.8%), the delivery experience is considered very important.”

98.3% of respondents said they want a notification in some form if their delivery is late – up from more than 10% from last year (87.8% in 2018). Shoppers overwhelmingly prefer to be notified via email (55%) and SMS (32.5%) if their package is late. By contrast, just 1 in 10 expect to have to visit a tracking page to find out about delays (10.2%).

Overall, more than 7 in 10 shoppers say they are unlikely to purchase from a brand again after a poor delivery experience. With the holiday stakes so high, retailers should pay close attention to this key metric.

Go fast or be gone. That may be the message. But be early and ready is another message.

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), 56% of consumers, during the first week of November had already begun their holiday shopping, "about the same as the past few years," NRF said in a statement.

"That was up from 48 percent who had already started at the same point a decade ago. On average, consumers had completed 24 percent of their shopping, the highest level in the history of the survey and up from 16 percent in 2009. Only 4 percent had finished shopping."

Speed of delivery is gaining importance as consumers are shopping through omni channels, earlier and often. They want it fast. And if there's any disruption in the supply chain equation, the consumer may shift their business away from such a vendor and place their holiday dollar with one who has the delivery equation perfected.

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