Dusseldorf Fast delivery is an important selling point for many online retailers, especially during the Christmas season. The ordered package should ideally arrive the following day. But the reality usually looks different. This is shown by a study by the management consultancy Accenture with test purchases from 55 online retailers, which is exclusively available to the Handelsblatt.
On average, retailers delivered this year one day later than promised when the order was placed and it took 3.7 days for the package to reach the customer. For the sixth year in a row, Accenture has been conducting this survey at the beginning of December.
With fashion brands, the discrepancy between promises and reality is particularly large. The average delivery time there is 4.9 days, these companies have promised an average delivery of 3.7 days. But there are big differences: Some companies need six to eight days, some even longer.
Sven Kromer, Managing Director of Accenture Retail Strategy & Consulting, observed that retailers had apparently underestimated the difficult framework conditions. “They assumed that the big corona boom was over and that they could promise better delivery times again,” he says. But many retailers have not managed to keep this promise.
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The test purchases were normal items that were stated as available, not sale items that are often out of stock. “One might have expected that the delivery times would improve compared to last year, but that was not the case,” says Kromer. There are also large fluctuations from company to company.
Surprisingly, this applies in particular to some pure online retailers such as the US giant Amazon, which actually sets the standards in e-commerce. The sample for packages that were not ordered via the Prime subscription service resulted in delivery times of up to seven days.
And at Zalando, the package only arrived eleven days after the order was placed – although the online retailer usually promises a delivery time of two to four days for standard deliveries.
The dealers cannot explain these delivery times from the investigation. A Zalando spokeswoman admits that the company saw an increase in orders in early December due to the high shopping season. But she emphasizes: “The present value does not match the average delivery times that we determined for the same period for standard deliveries in Germany together with our shipping partners.”
In calendar week 49, the first week in December, the average delivery time was 3.79 days, she reported. However, this also means that many packages apparently did not arrive within the promised delivery period. The Zalando spokeswoman also says: “In individual cases, there may be longer delivery times due to, for example, weather conditions or bottlenecks at our shipping partners.”
Amazon hired thousands of seasonal workers for packing and delivery
Amazon does not provide figures for delivery times in early December. However, a spokesman said when asked that the company was convinced “that the claims presented to us do not represent an accurate picture of our business”. The average delivery time in the observed period was significantly better than stated.
Customers can rest assured that the company will do everything to ensure that the Christmas gifts are delivered on time. “Amazon is well prepared, thousands of seasonal workers are also helping us pack and deliver the packages this year,” said the spokesman.
The biggest improvements in delivery times were for products such as furniture, consumer electronics, and home improvement items. “The average delivery times have been reduced from 5.2 to 3.1 days,” says expert Kromer. Media Markt, the furniture retailer XXXLutz and the DIY stores Obi and Bauhaus, each with delivery times of two days, stood out in this segment when it came to test purchases.
Every retailer is legally obliged to provide transparent information about the delivery time in e-commerce. Restrictions such as “probably” or “usually” are not permitted. However, the specification of a delivery period is permitted. This then becomes part of the purchase contract, so if this period expires, the dealer is in default.
Only a few retailers give a fixed delivery time
More and more retailers no longer dare to give fixed delivery times because they are afraid of disappointing customers. “Only 20 percent of the suppliers give an exact delivery date when ordering,” says Kromer. Most of them only named a period of time, which in some cases was quite generous. Another 25 percent indicate a delivery date when the goods are ready for dispatch.
“For most dealers, the delivery time remains a gamble,” criticizes the Accenture expert. “Some give ranges of two to seven days, an indication that is practically worthless from the customer’s perspective.”
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The bottleneck is usually the so-called last mile, i.e. the delivery by the parcel service to the customer. Even unoptimized processes in the warehouses can lead to delays. However, many retailers also complain about the manufacturers’ delivery problems, which lead to supply problems.
According to a survey by the Ifo Institute in July, retailers fear that the delivery problems could continue until mid-2023. Bicycles, electrical household appliances, hardware store items, consumer electronics and furniture are particularly affected.
A study by Sendcloud, a provider of shipping software, shows how important delivery times are to consumers. He surveyed customers who had canceled a planned online purchase shortly before completion, with multiple answers being possible. 44 percent stated that the estimated delivery time was too long. Even more important were delivery fees that were too high. This was stated by 68 percent of those surveyed when they canceled a purchase.
Hidden increase in delivery charges
This is exactly where consumers can get a nasty surprise this holiday season. Accenture’s research shows that free delivery is becoming increasingly rare. While 21 percent of companies offered this as standard last year, this year it is only seven percent.
A prominent example of this is Zalando, which has been charging a delivery fee for orders under EUR 29.90 since the middle of the year. With the competitor About You, on the other hand, delivery remains free.
Half of the 55 retailers surveyed now require a minimum order value for free delivery. And this has increased slightly again – on average from 73.13 to 76.50 euros.
“The pressure on retailers due to the cost increase is very high,” observes retail expert Kromer. But they would have shied away from raising the fees even more. On average, they rose from EUR 3.97 to EUR 4.07 in the previous year.
However, many retailers would have gotten the money back by changing the fee structure – by doing away with free delivery and by increasing the minimum order values. “These are the two big levers with which the providers have hiddenly increased the fees and want to at least compensate for the cost increases,” says Kromer.
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