Delivery delays plague online shoppers in lead-up to Christmas

Heather McIlvaine

13th Dec 2018

Retailers and logistics companies are letting down online shoppers by failing to deliver goods on time in the lead-up to Christmas, new research has revealed.

In a survey of more than 1000 Aussies aged 18 to 65 conducted by Here Technologies, more than half (53 per cent) said they had been left disappointed during the festive season after online orders failed to arrive on time.

West Australians were the worst off, with three in five left empty handed, while Tassie shoppers were the least likely to be left hanging during the festive season (41 per cent).

The fear of a parcel not arriving on time has caused 43 per cent of survey respondents to feel stress and anxiety, and one in five reported having to rush in-store for a last-minute gift, when an online order failed to arrive on time.

Despite this, more Aussies are doing some of their Christmas shopping online.

Thirty-six per cent of Australians split their Christmas shopping list between online and in-store, with almost twice as many men (21 per cent) choosing to do their shopping exclusively online than women (12 per cent). The younger a shopper was, the more likely they were to report buying gifts online:

• 27 per cent (18-24 yos)
• 24 per cent (25-34 yos)
• 15 per cent (35-44 yos)
• 8 per cent (45-54 yos)
• 8 per cent (55-65 yos)

Thirty-eight per cent of respondents reported using click-and-collect during their Christmas shopping, with those aged 18-35 years old the most likely to head in store to pick up their online purchase (44 per cent).

More than three quarters (76 per cent) of respondents said punctual delivery is their most important consideration when shopping online during Christmas, and almost a fifth (19 per cent) would pay more for an item from a store that they trust to deliver on time.