• by Ray Schultz , May 17, 2019

Consumers want regular updates on product deliveries, and email is their preferred channel, according to 2018 State of Ecommerce Delivery, a study by MetaPack.

The study was conducted last year, but the results were announced today. 

Of the U.S. consumers polled, 55% want to order updates via email, compared with 52% of Canadian shoppers.

Text is much less popular for order tracking — 49% in the U.S. prefer it, and 32% of those in Canada. However, 51% of U.S. shoppers also regularly log into their online accounts to check order status, as do 53% of Canadians. 

MetaPack surveyed 3,597 consumers in the UK, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Canada and the United States.

It found that free delivery is now the top consideration for most purchases for 61% of the U.S. shoppers and 68% of the Canadians. 

Yet 81% of the U.S. and 69% of the Canadian respondents will pay extra for one-hour, same day, next day or Sunday delivery.

Asked to cite their issues with ecommerce shipping, 63% of the U.S. consumers surveyed complained that delivery was later than promised. That seems to be less of a concern in other countries — 50% of the Canadians cited this issue, and the global total was 49%.

In line with this, U.S. purchasers were more likely to say that online orders were not delivered within a requested time slot. However, few of those in the U.S. said the delivery did not arrive at all, versus 36% of the Canadians and 25% of the global sample.   

Moreover, 37% of the U.S. residents and 27% of the Canadians surveyed object to staying at home all day waiting for an Amazon delivery, although they generally give Amazon high marks for service.  

Cross-border ecommerce is growing, but many shoppers are unhappy with slow delivery and the shipping expense. They would like to see more transparency on delivery and costs.  

Meanwhile, 26% of global shoppers are worried about deliveries contributing to increased carbon emissions and traffic congestion. Of those polled, 41% of the U.S. consumers feel this way, and so do 28% of the Canadians.