Flexible delivery options are vital for European buyers

90% of European online shoppers say that on some occasion they have not placed an order because it could not be delivered at the place or time that was convenient for them.
This is one of the most significant findings of the latest European Online Shopper Report.
The study concludes that flexible delivery options are no longer an option, they are vital for e-commerce companies.
Flexible delivery is a parcel delivery format that adapts to the time and place shoppers choose.
You can select the most convenient day and time slot or time and also whether delivery is to a store, home, work or pick-up point.
This type of delivery offers great advantages to the buyer, as it is tailored exactly to his needs and the time or place can even be changed after the order has been placed.
In addition, the packages are monitored at all times, as we know where they are via cell phone or computer.
To obtain detailed and accurate information on the online shopping patterns of Europeans, shoppers in the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Poland, the Netherlands, Italy, the Czech Republic and Austria were surveyed.
Its findings also show that having the option to reroute their deliveries at the last minute is very important to customers.
In fact, 72% want to be sure that their parcel can be delivered to another safe place when they are not at home.
Moreover, nearly two-thirds of European online shoppers want to know which courier company will deliver their parcels before they place their order.
And 43% would even abandon their shopping cart if they didn’t like the delivery provider.

Growing interest in sustainability

Sustainability is an increasingly important aspect for online shoppers on the old continent.
Sixty-four percent of Europeans say that shopping online in a sustainable way is important to them.
But interestingly, only one in five are willing to pay more for greener delivery, expecting retailers to bear the additional costs of greener transport.
What the European customers surveyed are willing to accept, 49% of them, is longer delivery times, if this results in more sustainable delivery.

Payment options

Eighty-five percent of European online shoppers surveyed were satisfied with the payment options offered.
Credit or debit cards and digital wallets such as PayPal remain the most popular methods.
However, “buy now, pay later” shopping options are gaining more and more ground in Europe.
Especially in Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria.

Cross-border purchases

The study found significant variation in shoppers’ attitudes to cross-border shopping.
For example, around 61% of Spanish shoppers make purchases abroad on a regular basis, while only 31% of British shoppers do so.

Social networks gain prominence

The role of social media as a sales channel for retailers is becoming increasingly relevant.
In Europe, 48% of the shoppers surveyed
have made purchases through social networks, with Facebook and Instagram being the most used platforms. However, TikTok is gaining ground and YouTube is also an important element in the social media sales market, due to the popularity of its streaming videos. In addition, 31% of Europeans claimed to have at least one subscription with an online retailer, with beauty and food subscriptions being the most popular. All in all, this study underlines the importance of integrating real and broad flexibility into online retailers’ delivery processes, as only those who have been able to adapt to these changing circumstances will be able to position themselves in the market. The changes in habits revealed by the study show that European online shoppers increasingly prioritize and will increasingly prioritize those stores that give them the power of choice in terms of their preferences, the place and time at which their products will be delivered to them. This choice gives them peace of mind, security and confidence. Therefore, the great challenge of online commerce is to find a way to incorporate this flexibility into each company’s strategy. A unique opportunity to be more competitive, offering customers an added value that differentiates them from the competition[:].