The start of the second week of December saw another sharp spike in online deliveries following Cyber Monday, with the MetaPack software alone shipping over 5 million orders over both peak weekends. Manic Monday deliveries were only 4% lower than the number of orders placed on Cyber Monday, making it the second highest online shopping peak this season.
The results confirm our forecast for four delivery peaks this festive season and we are expecting to see the highest spike of deliveries on Monday 15th with a much lower increase on the last Monday before Christmas, said Patrick Wall, Founder and CEO of MetaPack Group.
This growth forecast is backed up by a recent study, conducted by Research Now and commissioned by MetaPack, which revealed that nearly a quarter of UK respondents (22%) plan to do almost all their Christmas shopping online. This figure goes up to 29% for the 35-44 year old respondents, with another 51% of men and 64% of women planning to do more than 50% of their Christmas shopping online.
This trend is fuelled by the fast adoption of alternative delivery options by consumers and retailers. With more and more online shoppers opting for Click & Collect, Same Day and Sunday Service delivery, retailers are changing traditional delivery patterns to meet consumers needs for more convenience and choice. This is transforming the way people shop online, creating more spikes in online deliveries in the lead up to Christmas, commented Patrick Wall, Founder and CEO of MetaPack Group.
Consumers willingness to trying new delivery methods is revealed by how almost a third of UK consumers (28%) are planning to use Click & Collect this year. The data shows that women are more in favour of trying the new service, with 34% of female respondents planning to use Click & Collect this year compared to 22% of their male counterparts.
However, a significant proportion of UK shoppers (85%) are still planning to have their Christmas shopping delivered to their home, despite almost two thirds of them (67%) considering home deliveries as unreliable.
The findings of the research also provided interesting insights into consumers expectations from online deliveries this year. For instance, 39% of the surveyed said they would like to see later cut offs for online orders to be able to receive next day delivery with the youngest and oldest of the participants calling for this service (45% of 18-24 year olds and 43% of 65+year olds).
Supporting the need for more flexibility and convenience in online deliveries, 47% of consumers would like to see more evening deliveries and nominated day deliveries (35%), with young people placing a stronger importance on speed of deliveries compared to their older counterparts. The data revealed that 30% of 18-24 year olds would like to see more Same Day Delivery services, compared to an average of 14% of the other age groups.
Despite the significant advances of online delivery services, 54% of consumers would not risk ordering their Christmas presents after Monday, 15th December, confirming the expectations that the third week of December will be the busiest time for online deliveries in the UK.