From ‘next-day delivery’ to ‘delivery when it suits you’

Ordered today, delivered tomorrow. It is the promise that helped e-commerce grow. But the fastest delivery is not always the one that suits consumers best. Four out of five parcels are considered non-urgent by consumers and 79% want to be able to choose their own delivery day. Yet at more than three-quarters of the 100 online retailers studied, consumers have little or no choice over which day their parcel is delivered. These are the findings of new research by the University of Groningen, Breda University of Applied Sciences and PostNL.

Consumers want more choice than the checkout offers

Speed remains the default in e-commerce, even though it does not always match consumer preferences. Consumers with a preferred delivery day tend to choose Wednesday, Friday or Saturday. Yet parcel volumes peak at the beginning of the week, as many weekend orders are processed and delivered on Mondays and Tuesdays. At the same time, choice remains limited: only 24 of the 100 online retailers studied offered more than one delivery-day option.

When given a choice, 10% to 20% of consumers opt for a later delivery day. The way choices are presented at checkout can shift behaviour even further. Retailers can use information, discounts or a preselected option to help steer demand towards other days. In one trial, making a later delivery day the default reduced the number of deliveries selected for Monday and Tuesday by 23%. Any default should be clearly signposted and easy for consumers to change.

Alinda Kokkinou, senior lecturer and researcher at BUas: “The consumer is no longer a passive recipient, but a co-determiner of the last mile. People want control over their delivery. Our research shows that the best delivery for everyone is different, depending on the order and the circumstances. Freedom of choice is therefore the basis for a delivery chain that suits both the consumer and the supply chain.”

More choice requires collaboration

Giving consumers more choice can help spread parcel volumes more evenly across the week, making delivery more efficient and sustainable. But that choice only works if consumers can rely on their parcel arriving on the day they selected. This requires retailers and logistics providers to work closely together, ensuring that the options offered at checkout can also be delivered in practice. The focus can then shift from delivering as quickly as possible to finding the delivery day that suits the consumer best.

The white paper The best delivery day starts with the consumer: How giving consumers a choice contributes to a better delivery day for consumers and supply chains is available via: https://www.rug.nl/feb/research/frn/reports/whitepaper-best-delivery-day-english.pdf