E-shoppers want more delivery predictability and convenience, DPDgroup study finds

E-shoppers around the world are increasing their expectations from parcel carriers, with many demanding more sustainability, predictable deliveries and delivery convenience, as online buying becomes an everyday habit, according to DPDgroup’s extensive latest e-shopper study.

The study, which was conducted using data gathered from 40,000 interviews with consumers worldwide, revealed that 15.5% of all purchases among regular shoppers in Europe were made online in 2021. Meanwhile, 95% of all netizens in China bought online in the first half of 2021 versus 78% in Europe.

According to DPDgroup, regular e-shoppers are defined as shoppers aged 18 to 70 who buy at least one product category online per month. They now represent 48% of all European e-shoppers and account for 86% of online market share volume in Europe. Overall, regular e-shoppers made 5.5 purchases per month, with 70% considering price, 48% sustainability, 68% convenience, and 35% loyalty schemes. 

Online groceries boom

The pandemic both increased the number of regular e-shoppers and incited them to buy even more online than they did prior to the crisis, according to the study. The average regular e-shopper received almost six parcels per month. Many product categories benefitted from this increase in buying, especially home equipment and food.

Food was a clear winner of the explosive growth in online shopping during the pandemic, DPDgroup revealed. 35% of regular e-shoppers ordered fresh food and beverages online since January 2021, with the vast majority choosing home as their usual delivery place. Food is the second most often purchased category online in China.

The study revealed that one of the key considerations for e-shoppers when buying food and beverages online is delivery. “Services like real time delivery information and the ability to choose a one-hour delivery window in advance are very important, and 68% of shoppers also consider it important to know the delivery company,” the study said.

“Today’s e-shoppers are confident in the online shopping experience and now expect a high level of service with every purchase. They are perfectly at ease buying food online and intend to keep doing so. They care about the environment, and, as ever, convenience is a key motivator. With these expectations in mind, it is the industry’s duty to meet them,” said Carmen Cureu, Market Research Director, DPDgroup.

“Robust and vibrant” e-commerce

Reflecting on the key overall findings from the study, Jean-Claude Sonet, Executive Vice President in charge of Marketing, Communications and Sustainability, DPDgroup, said: “We are in a season of unprecedented disruption, largely due to the ongoing reverberations of the Covid-19 pandemic but also from Brexit, supply chain challenges and VAT changes. Against this tumultuous backdrop, e-commerce has ceased to be a novelty and has cemented its place among the buying habits of today’s consumers. Indeed, the maturity of e-shoppers is one of the key highlights of 2021; bolstered by the pandemic, e-commerce has never been more robust, more vibrant, or more broadly embraced.”

He continued: “Beyond e-shopping, the entire relationship between consumers and vendors is undergoing a monumental shift. Driven by a sense of newfound freedom from technological, logistic, and economic restrictions, consumers buy whenever, wherever, and however they please, be it in person or online. This fusion of traditional and e-commerce has given rise to the phenomenon we have dubbed ‘New Commerce’, the logical next step after omnichannel, with a transformative potential that should encourage the entire industry.”

Four e-shopper profiles

According to DPDgroup, in the era of New Commerce, e-merchants need to offer a 360° approach, encompassing online and offline channels and considering all ages and levels of e-shopping expertise. In the barometer study, DPDgroup explored the different types of “e-shopping expertise” and broke them down into four profiles: the aficionado e-shopper, the senior e-shopper, the epicurean e-shopper, and the eco-selective e-shopper.

Aficionados are the most experienced buyers, relying heavily on e-commerce to satisfy their needs. 82% find delivery to be effortless or easy and 65% feel they can find nearly all the products and services they need online. The average aficionado received 10 parcels per month, with German online shoppers setting the maximum of 13.

The senior shopper is aged 55 or older and generally uses e-commerce more out of necessity than desire and tends to show many of the behaviours associated with novice e-shoppers, such as placing high importance on trust when choosing websites and having a relatively relaxed approach to delivery, according to the study. Senior e-shoppers make one of every 10 purchases online and are more likely than any other e-shopper profile to choose home as their usual delivery place. 18.6% of Chinese seniors’ purchases are made online.

Accounting for 13% of all European e-shoppers, epicureans distinguish themselves from other profiles not in the quantity nor the type of purchases they make, but rather in the ease, simplicity, and personal enjoyment they seek from the e-shopping experience. Service quality in general is highly important to epicureans, which is why they prefer to buy well-known brands (78%) and why they consider it particularly important to know the delivery company (81%). In comparison with total e-shoppers, epicureans are more willing to go to another site if it offers more sustainable delivery options (79% versus 65%).

Representing 14% of all European e-shoppers, eco-selective buyers are relatively occasional yet shrewd e-shoppers. As in 2019, eco-selective e-shoppers in 2021 continue to hunt for bargains online. In fact, they are the only shoppers whose purchases from China have not decreased (77% of this group has engaged in cross-border buying online, with 59% choosing Chinese websites, with no change versus 2019). 81% consider it important to know the delivery company.

Sustainability and out-of-home delivery

The 2021 e-shopper barometer study also revealed that more than ever consumers are thinking about the impact of their purchases on the environment. 69% of regular e-shoppers expect brands and manufacturers to be more sustainable, however only less than half make sure to buy sustainable products when possible, and only 41% are willing to pay a premium for sustainable products or services.

With regards to delivery, 65% of regular e-shoppers are willing to go to a different website to find a more sustainable delivery option. The notion of green delivery tends to involve low-emission vehicles (54%) or the combination of multiple orders into a single delivery (48%).

Price conscious buyers, who represent 10% of all European e-shoppers, have a clear focus on convenience for buying only, which impacts their approach to delivery. According to the study, while this group often chooses home delivery, they also do not hesitate to choose lockers as a flexible, affordable pick-up solution.

The European countries where parcel locker usage has grown and ranks high are Estonia where regular e-shoppers routinely use parcel shops (87%) followed by Latvia (75%), Lithuania (70%), Poland (62%), Hungary (24%) and finally Romania (21%). Meanwhile, 39% of Chinese e-shoppers prefer to be delivered at a parcel locker and 38% at a parcel shop.

“Overall, e-commerce has never been more widely and fully embraced; it is our duty to provide consumers of all profiles and all buying habits with the shopping experience they want and expect,” Sonet concluded.