Failed deliveries by UK couriers more than doubled in June compared to the previous month. Atthe same time, online shoppers are becoming increasingly aware of security, according to the
British e-commerce association IMRG.The IMRG MetaPack UK Delivery Index revealed that almost one in 10 (9.21%) deliveries wereattempted or carded last month, up from 4.39% in May. IMRG claimed, however, that this can beattributed to the holiday season.
Andrew Starkey, Head of e-Logistics at IMRG, said: “Attempted (carded) deliveries and addressqueries have spiked alarmingly this month. Could changes in staffing levels and driver allocation –resulting from holiday cover – mean that delivery agents who may be less familiar with addressesand consumers availability, are finding it harder to make delivery in person?”
Angela O’Connell, Strategy and Marketing Director at MetaPack, warned that the increase incarded delivery might be an indicator for retailers having to provide more convenient deliveryoptions to their customers. “With the start of the summer holiday season and with people spendingmore time outdoors, delivery services need to be flexible enough to fit around the busy schedulesof online shoppers. Alternative delivery options such as dropping in parcels at a neighbour’shouse, at local pick up points, at a store or at the workplace will play a key role in reducingattempted deliveries in the future.”
Meanwhile, the proportion of delivery orders being delivered to non-UK consumers appears to havereached its peak with 26.3%, settling at the same level or below that of last year for the pastfive months. But cross-border volume still continues to grow in line with the increase in overallvolumes, with the percentage of cross-border orders delivered to EU countries having risen to59.5%, up from 55.8% in May.
Starkey added: “Another sign that the cross-border market might be entering a new phase is thefact that the volume of orders going to EU destinations (where English is not the first language)is holding above those going to non-EU destinations, with English speaking US and Australianshoppers who like UK brands being the main source of these orders. This may suggest that UKe-retailers are increasingly targeting the more adjacent European markets which although closer,require a more localised approach.”
Meanwhile, separate consumer research from IMRG and Voice of the Customer specialisteDigitalResearch revealed that UK online shoppers have become more conscious of security after aseries of high-profile security breaches at various international retailers and brands.
According to the survey, more than half of the shoppers have the feeling that they could do moreto keep themselves safe online while 1 in 4 online consumers have been, or have a family member whohas been, a victim of a fraudulent transaction in the past. 54% of online shoppers thus reportedfeeling more conscious of their security online compared to a year.
Of the 2,000 online consumers surveyed as part of eDigitalResearch’s and IMRG’seCustomerServiceIndex (eCSI), half (50%) felt that retailers should be doing more to keep them safeonline, with more security breaches expected this year. While some consumers consider reminders toupdate passwords and security notifications helpful, the majority of respondents feel thatretailers need to invest in strict security and privacy policies to keep them safe when shoppingonline.
What is worrying is that a significant percentage of those surveyed were not aware of basicsecurity measures, such as regularly updating their passwords, with 43% updating their passwordsevery 3-6 months, while 6% of those surveyed were not aware they could do this. Similarly, just twothirds (69%) use different passwords for different sites and 5% of online consumers were unaware ofthis possibility.
Andrew McClelland, COO of IMRG, commented: “These findings are interesting in that industry hasinvested heavily over the last 5 years in standardising and improving card payment security. Yes,big data breaches are of enormous concern but careful management of our own data limits the impactthat these will have. We as consumers must be much more aware of who we are giving our data to, howoften we update passwords and making sure our anti-virus programs are kept up-to-date. It is inretailers’ interests to ensure that their customers are safe when shopping online and they continueto invest in security measures. New data protection regulation from the European Parliament is dueto come into force shortly, helping to raise the bar even further and providing consumers withfurther protection.”
Derek Eccleston, Commercial Director at eDigitalResearch, concluded: “It is clear from ourlatest set of results that security really has become a crucial factor in the online customerjourney for consumers. The fact that just one third of us are happy to share our bank card detailsspeaks volumes, especially when this is a key component to complete a purchase. The onus is verymuch on retailers to invest in and improve their security measures for their online customers –over two thirds (67%) expect organisations to contact them immediately (within 6 hours) by email orphone if security had been breached and it leads to a potential loss of data”.
