Online Buyers More Open to Alternate Delivery Locations, UPS Survey Finds
U.S. consumers have become more open to alternate delivery locations for products ordered online, according to a recent report by UPS Inc.
While home delivery remained the most popular option, the parcel courier’s 2015 Pulse of the Online Shopper study found that 33% of consumers prefer to have packages shipped to places other than their residences, up from 26% last year.
The fourth annual survey also showed that consumers plan to research and purchase products online more frequently through mobile devices, and free shipping options continue to play a key role in their purchasing choices.
“The future of retail is driven by ever increasingly sophisticated and savvy shoppers who research at home and in a store, but more are turning to mobile as capabilities improve for online product display and promotion,” said Alan Gershenhorn, UPS executive vice president and chief commercial officer. “They also want more flexibility and alternate delivery options.”
The results were based on a January survey of 5,118 online shoppers conducted by ComScore Inc., a digital media analytics firm. Survey participants made at least two purchases in a typical three-month period.
Among the respondents who preferred to receive packages at a place other than their homes, 8% said they preferred delivery to a retailer’s store, 6% to a friend or family member, 6% to another authorized pickup location, 5% to their workplace, 4% to a package delivery locker and 4% to another retail location such as a grocery store or convenience store.
Meanwhile, 52% expressed interest in shipping to an alternate location with extended hours, and 24% said they would not be interested in that option.
The report also said that physical stores continue to play an important role in online shopping. The survey found that 48% of consumers have selected ship-to-store for pickup in the past year, and 41% of those users said they expect to use that option more in the next year.
The study also indicated that online shoppers expect to receive their items faster when paying for shipping than when shipping is free. On average, shoppers are willing to wait six days for paid shipping and eight days for free shipping, according to the survey.
Consumers are also more open to alternate delivery service options when they are not home to sign for a package, the report said.
More than half of the respondents — 51% — said it would be an appealing option for the carrier to hold the package until they returned home to receive it, while other desirable options included instructing the carrier to leave the package with a neighbor, at the backdoor, in the garage or on the porch. The survey found that 36% would like the package shipped to a carrier’s location nearby, such as The UPS Store, for pickup at their convenience.
When returning an item ordered online, 61% of shoppers said they prefer to return it to a physical store, while 39% said they prefer to ship it back to the retailer.
In practice, though, 69% of respondents said they had returned a product by shipping it back to a retailer, and 52% said they returned an item to a store.
UPS said 70% of shoppers purchase an additional item when making an in-store return, but just 42% buy another product while processing an online return.
UPS, based in Atlanta, ranks No. 1 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in the United States and Canada.
