I’ve read it so you don’t have to: Pulse of the Online Shopper
Welcome to my new series, where I read lengthy consumer research reports on even lengthier plane journeys, so that you don’t have to wade through them yourself. (NB: there is no guarantee intended or implied of further entries in this series).
I often struggle with consumer research surveys. Writing them so that they tell you something actually interesting is a real skill. So often we end up with the type of survey which tells us that “The price of delivery options is important to 37% of consumers!”. Very good, but realistically which consumer doesn’t care about this? Good surveys will provide contextual and relative information — for example, allowing us to understand how comparatively important things are to consumers..
UPS’ Pulse of the Online Shopper does a pretty good job of finding genuine insight, albeit in 45 pages. So, I thought I would pull out what I think are the best bits from the recently released 2019 edition.
- The generation before Baby Boomers are called ‘The Greatest Generation’ (72+). Who knew? I bloody love my gran.
- 54% of online shoppers look at a returns policy before purchasing an item, 30% of people look at the policy when they need to use it, and 12% don’t ever look. Does that mean 12% of people never return their purchases? How many customers refer to a returns policy before purchasing is a frequently quoted stat, but because of the scale and credibility of this study and the fact it’s UPS, this is my new benchmark.
- The top reason for joining a retailer’s loyalty program is free shipping (64%) — loyalty doesn’t come cheap, it appears — followed by members-only discounts and reward points.
- Globally, the top reason for cart abandonment is shipping costs (41%). The next nearest factors which a retailer can control are ‘item was out of stock’ (28%) and ‘estimated delivery time was too long’ (26%). Delivery is the source of three of the top five reasons for cart abandonment worldwide.
- The need for speed is not absolute. I’m convinced the rhetoric on ‘faster, faster, faster’ is slightly over-done, and actually we only want super-fast delivery options for 20–30% of our purchases. The report suggests that 51% of consumers regularly choose cheaper but slower delivery options.
- Globally, 20% of shoppers prefer an ADL (alternate delivery location). You could therefore argue that the home / non-home split should be 80/20, but that overlooks the significant number of parcels that were once destined for home but end up being brought to ADLs as a result of in-flight redirects and failed delivery attempts.
- An online returns experience is inextricably linked to customer loyalty. 3 out of 4 customers say that the returns experience with a particular retailer affects the likelihood of a consumer to buy from that retailer again, and that figure grows to 81% for the most frequent online shoppers. Again, this isn’t a new point, but it is so important and I think many retailers under-appreciate the importance of a returns ‘experience’… it’s no longer enough to just stick a label in the box.
- 85% of consumers strongly feel that online retailers should pay for returns. Returns are just *so* important to future growth and loyalty. (Incidentally, going back to what I said at the start about usefully framed questions, who are the 15% who want to pay?
Until next time, adios.
