In line with previous years’ findings, free and fast shipping are most important to consumers in 2024 when it comes to the delivery of online orders, new Digital Commerce 360 and Bizrate Insights data shows.
And it wasn’t close. In a survey of 1,013 online consumers, more than eight in 10 cited free shipping (81.34%) as their top priority when it comes to delivering their orders.
Fast shipping (which 68.41% cited) was a clear second. Timing and cost were part of a theme in the top results, as consumers (55.68%) said it’s important to them that retailers keep products in stock and ready to ship.
The full version of this article, with all its charts, is available to members. It is also available in the 2024 Edition of the Ecommerce Fulfillment Report.
Importance of free shipping in 2024
It’s not just free shipping to their residences that consumers want in 2024. More than half of the survey respondents said they also want free return shipping (53.11%). On top of that, they want the retailer’s return policy to be flexible (26.26%), and a physical store where they can return products (17.87%).
Also relating to price, more than a third (35.83%) said reasonable shipping fees are most important to them — if they aren’t getting free shipping.
Fast shipping
Breaking down delivery speed, about a quarter of consumers (24.38%) said same-day shipping is most important to them. More than a quarter of consumers (28.43%) were a little more patient, saying it’s most important to them that a retailer offers next-day shipping.
There’s also a niche group of consumers who said they want to be able to pick up their online orders themselves. More specifically, 9.97% said they want retailers to offer locker pickup as an alternative, which could be at UPS, FedEx, Walgreens or elsewhere. And 6.02% said they want omnichannel pickup capabilities for their online orders. That includes buy online, pick up in store (BOPIS) and curbside pickup.
Slightly more niche — and the least-selected response, at 4.94% — was that retailers use sustainable delivery practices, which could include local sourcing or using electric vehicles.
Consumer trends: Shipping and delivery
Close to three-quarters of consumers (72.85%) took advantage of free shipping for online orders they placed in the past six months. In contrast, 44.03% paid for shipping in that time frame. And just 12.64% said they paid for expedited shipping.
And 42.35% ordered through Amazon for same-day delivery. Alternatively, about a quarter of respondents (25.07%) ordered online for same-day delivery from a retailer that also has physical stores, such as Target, Best Buy or The Home Depot. On the flip side, 15.99% ordered same-day delivery from a retailer other than Amazon that does not have a physical store, such as Wayfair or Overstock (now a part of Beyond Inc.).
However, about a quarter (25.17%) said they agreed to wait longer for their order so the merchant could combine it with other orders or otherwise improve the shipment’s sustainability.
What do consumers order online, and how do they opt to receive those items?
- Non-grocery items online to pick up at a physical store (24.28%)
- Groceries for home delivery (23.49%)
- Groceries online to pick up at a store (22.61%)
- Groceries, using an app-based delivery service such as Instacart, DoorDash or Roadie (12.83%)
- Ordered non-food items using an app-based delivery service such as Instacart, DoorDash or Roadie (8.98%)
Inconveniences consumers face when online shopping
At checkout, 44.62% of consumers selected a shipping option that takes longer so they could save money.
Nearly a quarter (24.09%) also had orders delayed — not by choice — because of inventory or shipping issues. Beyond that, some consumers (17.18%) even had their orders canceled on them because of inventory or shipping issues.
And some inconveniences were enough to make consumers abandon their online shopping carts.
Top reasons consumers abandoned their carts:
- Item was out of stock (34.16%)
- Shipping costs were too high (32.48%)
- Order would not arrive in time (27.44%)
- Delivery time would be too slow (18.66%)
- Delivery date was unclear (12.44%)
- Sales tax was too high (6.81%)
- Same-day delivery was not available (6.42%)
The many different faces of online order returns
There are many ways to pick up and return online orders. Different retailers and brands offer methods depending on whether or not they have their own physical stores, what partnerships they have with delivery carriers, locations available to consumers and more.
In the past six months, more than a third of consumers surveyed said they placed an order online to pick up inside a retailer’s store. Buy online, pick up in store (BOPIS) is a common omnichannel offering for store-based retailers, as is its sister option, curbside pickup, which 30.4% said they used.
Meanwhile, the most common return method these consumers cited was inside a retailer’s store (16.98%). A similar amount of those consumers were told to simply keep the item they ordered online rather than returning it to the retailer (16.88%), yet they still received a credit for their return.
Other consumers placed orders online and had them shipped to:
- A collection point for pickup other than the retailer’s store (15.6%)
- An Amazon-run store that handles pickups and returns (15%)
- An Amazon locker in a non-Amazon location (such as at a mall or convenience store, which 13.23% cited)
- A package delivery locker (for example, UPS or FedEx locker, which 9.18% cited)
Alternatively, consumers used more niche methods to return:
- An online order to a mall-based pickup and return center (7.5%)
- A non-Amazon order to a drop-off point at a retailer like Walgreens (7.4%)
- A non-Amazon order to another physical location such as Happy Returns (7.11%)
- An online order curbside at a retailer (4.34%)
Consumers’ environmental concerns about retailers’ policies
More than a fifth of consumers (23%) said they’re concerned about the environment but not willing to pay more for environmentally sound policies and practices, putting the onus on retailers.
Meanwhile, some are both unwilling and unconcerned with the environmental impacts of their online shopping (17.18%), and some are both concerned and willing to pay more for retailers to apply environmentally sound policies and practices (14.02%).
Others are willing to select an environmentally sound option if they benefit from it (18.07%), via reward points or money off future orders.
What kind of deliveries are consumers most comfortable with?
Close to half of consumers are not at all comfortable (45.01%) with self-driving vehicle delivery for their online orders. A similar amount (44.72%) are not at all comfortable with drone delivery of their online orders.
Similarly, about a third of consumers are not at all comfortable with in-garage (35.64%) nor in-home (30.5%) delivery of their online orders.
On the flip side, just under a fifth (19.55%) are completely open to in-home delivery, and about half that amount are extremely comfortable with in-garage delivery (10.07%).
What makes consumers more comfortable with alternative delivery methods?
More than half of consumers (51.83%) said that if they’re going to agree to such alternative delivery options, they want guarantees from the retailer that the retailer would be responsible for any theft or damage. Along the same lines, they want guarantees that delivery companies will be responsible for any theft or damage (49.46%).
Other consumers cited personal circumstances, including not having a security system for their home and/or garage (28.04%), their location not being suited for the type of delivery (22.8%), or crime in their neighborhood (22.51%).
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