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Over 50% of home deliveries fall short of expectations

a box covered in "fragile" tape is crushed and damaged.

A survey from e-commerce software vendor HubBox found that 28% of home deliveries arrive damaged.

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Survey says 53% of e-commerce deliveries are late, damaged, or delivered to the wrong address.

Supply Chain Xchange Staff
By Supply Chain Xchange StaffOct 28, 2024
Supply Chain Xchange Staff
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More than half of home deliveries to U.S. online shoppers arrive either late, damaged, or to the wrong address, according to a study from e-commerce software vendor HubBox.

Specifically, almost one in three (27%) home delivery packages are currently delivered late, while almost one in six (15%) online orders are delivered to the wrong address. The results come from Atlanta-based HubBox, which works with networks and carriers to provide retailers with pickup access to over 400,000 locations worldwide.

Furthermore, the survey of more than 1,000 U.S. shoppers revealed consumers’ top five home delivery pain-points:

  1. Orders delivered to the wrong house or block (37%),
  2. Packages left with neighbors they don’t like or don’t speak to (30%),
  3. Item arriving damaged (28%),
  4. Delivery is late (27%), and
  5. Having to wait at home for deliveries (25%).

According to HubBox, those frustrations have pushed nearly half (49%) of shoppers to consider out-of-home delivery collection points to overcome poor delivery service.

“Shoppers expect seamless experiences throughout their buying journey—and nowhere more so than in delivery and the last mile where shoppers’ anticipation of receiving their order is highest,” HubBox CEO Sam Jarvis said in a release. “Retailers that offer flexible and convenient delivery experiences, such as pickup points or BOPIS, ("buy online pick up in store") stand a better chance, and, if they can’t meet these expectations, they risk significant lost sales and future loyalty.”

In addition, more shoppers now expect compensation for late deliveries. Over half of shoppers (53%) expect money off their next order if a delivery is delayed, while 63% expect delivery charges to be waived. Another 54% expect a free delivery code for their next order.

“Late deliveries don’t just erode hard-won customer loyalty. Increasingly, as retailers are having to compensate customers for delayed orders, they eat away at already slim margins—and this at a time when the cost of fulfillment is rising and some carriers are charging additional fees for home deliveries,” Jarvis said. “By diversifying fulfillment options, such as adding local pickup, retailers can ensure demand can be met across their network even during peak trading periods such as Black Friday and the Christmas holidays while ensuring consumer experience is maintained.”

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