UK shoppers expect free delivery for orders over £10

Online consumers from the United Kingdom aren’t unenthusiastic about paying for delivery, if the fee isn’t too high. Two thirds of UK shoppers normally don’t expect free delivery when placing orders online, but when orders go over 10 pounds they begin to expect free delivery options.

This is shown by a survey conducted by Whistl, which interviewed just over 1,000 consumers about topics like returns and free delivery. “Because it’s amazing how big an influence delivery and returns costs have upon consumers’ decisions to buy goods online”, it says. “Paying £90 for a new pair of trainers (or similar product) online can seem like nothing to some people, but the £3.99 delivery charge makes many consumers question the purchase entirely.”

1 in 4 expect free delivery on every order

One in four Brits expect free delivery on every online purchase, while the majority only expects free delivery after they have spent a minimum of 10 pounds. But maybe retailers should consider introducing free delivery, because the study shows that almost all Brits (94 percent) are more likely to purchase something online when there is free delivery. Especially, consumers aged 18 to 24 were most likely to do so.

In the United Kingdom, people are willing to pay between 2 and 4 pounds (€2.22-€4.45) for a delivery, but two thirds of shoppers won’t continue with an online purchase if they think the delivery fee is too high. Most of the respondents said that the amount they will pay online is not affected by the offer of free delivery, but a third of them say they overbuy so they can avoided delivery and return costs.

Willing to wait for free delivery

Also, consumers won’t mind waiting a little bit longer for their delivery if its means they can get the order delivered for free. Half of shoppers are willing to wait an extra two or three days for this. And almost three in ten consumers will even wait four to five days. Over half of Brits say they’d rather buy abroad and experience longer waiting times, if this means they can avoid delivery fees.
tra seven days for items is fine if the delivery is free.

Consider how much you ask for delivery

According to Melanie Darvall, director marketing & communication at Whistl, retails should consider how much they ask for delivery and what the minimum spend should be. “Because this is having a direct impact on how much people spend on online purchases or whether they buy anything at all”, she explains.