Consumers warn that they shouldn't be afraid to leave an online shopping cart if the company doesn't offer free returns or delivery.
According to a new study by Emarsys, 16.4% of customers say that the absence of a free returns option would be enough to deter them from buying a product they are interested in.
Additionally, 14% of consumers say that non-free delivery is the biggest deal breaker.
“… The importance of the delivery experience will continue to grow as online shopping becomes increasingly popular,” said Adam Ioakim, Managing Director of APAC at Emarsys.
Another important problem for customers is long delivery times. 9.4% of buyers are excluded from a purchase if the delivery time is more than three days.
A major factor for Australian consumers is the variety of payment and collection options.
"As our research shows, a poor delivery and return experience has become a major deal breaker for most Australian consumers," continued Ioakim.
"Customers want to see their purchase and feel comfortable, and sometimes it's not what they expect. Therefore, brands should see returns as an opportunity to better understand their customers and to further improve both the store and the online experience."
The Emarsys team says that success in 2021 will be determined by deep immersion in customer attitudes and behaviors.
Emarsys has published an Eight Priority E-Book for Retail Marketing for 2021, which can be accessed here.
