Report: Retailers need to ‘double down’ on shipping, returns and tracking

A new study from global technology firm Pitney Bowes has found that online shoppers value ease of access and low costs, leading to the conclusion that retailers should focus their efforts on “delivery experiences.”    Global technology company Pitney Bowes released its first ever 2017 Pitney Bowes Global Ecommerce Study, revealing “delivery experiences as the next frontier for retailers to continue to thrive in today’s marketplace, indicating the need for retailers to double down on shipping, returns and tracking – the defining factors that matter most to this year’s consumer,” the company said.
   The study is based on survey results of 1,200 retailers from eight countries and 12,000 consumers from 12 global markets. According to the data, online shoppers are exercising a wider range of options when it comes to shipping, collecting, or returning their items, including in-store pickups (“click-and-collect”), shipping to locations other than the buyer’s home, returning unwanted purchases in-store, and returning unwanted purchases using pre-paid shipping labels. Furthermore, nearly half (47 percent) of online shoppers globally faced frustration with shipping, returns, lost products and miscalculated duties and taxes during last year’s holiday shopping season, the study found.
   In addition, the report found consumers prefer free shipping with longer delivery times (75 percent) over paying for expedited parcel shipments (25 percent) and are increasingly (70 percent) making cross-border purchases, with Asia Pacific seeing the biggest year-over-year increases, led by India, China and South Korea.
   Many are also turning to online marketplaces rather than retailer websites, with 67 percent of online shoppers utilizing Amazon, eBay, Flipkart, Rakuten, Tmall and JD.com to search for products, the study found. Online shoppers report that 62 percent of their cross-border purchases and 59 percent of their domestic purchases take place on online marketplaces, versus retailer websites. These trends have increased year-over-year and are most prevalent in China, Germany, India and Japan, Pitney Bowes said.
   According to the study, 62 percent of retailers have a cross-border e-commerce business today, and the majority of retailers who don’t offer cross-border, plan to in the next 12 months. 
   Earlier this year, Pitney Bowes firm released its annual Parcel Shipping Index, which tracks international growth rates of parcel shipping volumes and related expenditures, forecasting a 20 percent increase in global parcel volumes in 2018.