Where online becomes offline, or logistics in e-commerce

Most often, e-shops provide shoppers with only two delivery methods. Customers are most likely to choose a courier, but still have a strong hold on registered letters, according to data from the Shoper platform.

Although in an e-commerce store the purchasing process takes place online, the customer's satisfaction is determined by their offline experience with the product. Fast and cheap delivery is an increasingly important factor in an e-customer's purchasing decision. Large players are investing in logistics and distribution, just cite the example of the new state-of-the-art warehouses of Amazon, Wallmart and Zalando. Allegro is probably also heading in the direction of its own transportation services.

Smaller retailers are looking for ways to optimize in-store logistics. Among other things, they are selling in a dropshipping model, in which warehousing and shipping of orders is flipped to a wholesaler, or they are using customized warehouses rented by the meter. They also introduce various delivery methods.

Available delivery methods

The Shoper platform has checked how e-shops are adapting their delivery systems to meet customers' needs. According to data from more than 10,000 stores, online shoppers most often have to choose between two delivery methods. That's the number of options provided by the largest proportion, 23 percent of stores. Still, one in five retailers leaves shoppers no choice, offering only one delivery method. This group of stores has been declining for years, but very slowly - only by 1 percentage point compared to last year. A comparable proportion of stores allow delivery of an order by three methods. 14 percent of stores offer customers four delivery methods, 8 percent. - five, and 15 percent. - six or more.

Not every industry needs to offer as many. In the case of digital product distribution, the store only uses electronic shipping. Furniture stores often only offer their own transportation suitable for large-volume shipments. However, it is much more common for consumers to buy physical products, and they want to have a choice not only when deciding on the method of delivery, but even when it comes to the company delivering the order.

- In conducting online sales, it is not so much the number of delivery methods made available that is important, but their diversity. Having, for example, 3 different couriers on offer is not always optimal from a business perspective. Matching delivery methods should be related to the industry (products) and shopping habits of the target group," emphasizes Jacek Zientkiewicz, Brand Manager of the Shoper platform. - It is important to remember that we increasingly do our shopping on the go, on mobile, and our delivery preferences change with each purchase - once we prefer to order a courier to work, another time to home, another time to pick up a package from a parcel machine at any hour, he adds.

Most popular delivery methods

Most often, customers choose courier delivery - this choice applies to 42 percent of transactions. Among all carriers, the most popular company is the Polish Post Office (taking into account letters and courier deliveries), while DPD and DHL lead among courier companies.

The second most popular choice of customers is registered mail - one in five purchases is ordered by mail. This statistic shows that there is still a large group of customers for whom cost is more important than delivery time. When introducing delivery methods, it is worth analyzing whether a store's customers pay attention primarily to price, or perhaps time is more important to them and they are willing to pay extra for faster delivery.

Customer bothering to pick up a package

Fifteen percent of orders are picked up by shoppers in person at the store, and 13 percent at parcel machines. Customers also used delivery to Ruch kiosks twice as often as a year ago. Logistics companies are constantly expanding the options for picking up orders, including points frequently visited by consumers, such as kiosks and gas stations, in the delivery network. Time-sensitive customers are happy to drive themselves to pick up their orders.

What does the future hold for us?

- Definitely removing borders in international trade, and here logistics plays one of the more important roles. We can already see that one in ten stores on the Shoper platform sells abroad, and this number is increasing every year. I also hope that the Same-Day Delivery service will become a standard in e-shops," comments Jacek Zientkiewicz.

Methodology: the data comes from more than 10,000 online stores operating on the Shoper platform, as of July 2017.