Metapack flags huge impact of Covid-19 on online home delivery space
UK retailers are bracing for an additional £19.6 billion of online home deliveries by 2025 as a result of the Covid pandemic, according to new research from Metapack and Retail Economics.
More than 6,000 consumers were surveyed across the US, UK, France and Germany.
27.3% of Brits now expect to permanently shift more of their shopping online on the back of new behaviours formed since the pandemic.
A new wave of ‘digital shifters’ is expected to support an additional £22.4 billion in online sales compared to a scenario where the pandemic had no impact on shopping behaviours.
This is projected to lead to £19.6 billion of additional sales going through home deliveries alone by 2025, compared to a scenario where the pandemic had no impact.
However, the lasting impact of Covid-19 will not be felt equally across all retail categories.
The research predicts that apparel, homewares and health and beauty will experience a greater permanent shift online, brought about by online discovery since the pandemic.
A consequence of the shift online means that 35.8% of UK consumers expect to visit physical stores less in the future, ahead of those expecting to cut back in the US (28.7%), Germany (20.8%) and France (17.2%).
24.8% of UK consumers work from home more since the pandemic, of which 50.6% expect to shop more online permanently, compared to 27.1% of those whose place of work has not been impacted from the coronavirus outbreak.
As more consumers work from home, it has boosted the success rate of first time deliveries and opened a much larger number of possible delivery slots.
By 2025, UK home workers expect their proportion of online orders delivered to their home to rise by 11.5%, compared to an average of 7.5% among those that haven’t faced change in their work.
Across the markets analysed, 37.5% of ‘digital shifters’ value speed ahead of convenience, cost and carbon footprint of deliveries.
Duncan Licence, VP of Global Product at Metapack, says: “Driven by the pandemic, online consumer shopping expectations have changed significantly over the last few years, and a lot of these changes are here to stay.”
“It is expected that, as home working becomes the norm for more and more people, their appetite for fast, convenient, and easy deliveries that fit their lifestyle, will continue to increase.”
He concludes: "Retailers have reached a crossroads, they need to diversify their delivery options and invest in the right infrastructure and technology to meet the new needs of their consumers, or they will struggle to compete, especially as the shopping experience becomes synonymous with the delivery experience.”
“The retail industry has evolved beyond bricks and mortar, it’s time to step into the age of e-commerce.”
