Poor delivery hugely impacts a customer’s overall online shopping experience, and new research finds that late delivery is the number one driver for customer complaints on Twitter.
Analysis of over 6,700 tweets to the UK’s top courier companies by delivery software company Circuit, highlights countless delivery-related issues – problems that are only likely to worsen due to the current driver deficit. Key findings reveal:
- 83% of all tweets to the UK’s top courier companies are negative
- Only 3% of all tweets are positive
- 10% of tweets are about packages that don’t turn up
The research highlights Brits’ disappointment in delivery, with 83% of all tweets to courier companies displaying a negative tone and only 3% as positive. Overall 17% of tweets related to late delivery while 10% complained that the package did not arrive at all. Finally, and most concerningly, 7% of tweets suggest that in fact someone stole the goods.
When looking into the data, there are some interesting regional differences. In the West Midlands 20% of tweets speak about stolen goods, almost triple the national average. Meanwhile, 8% of tweets from Scotland report that no one made the delivery despite the customer being in – a very frustrating situation and a rate twice as high as the national average. Finally, in Northern Ireland, it seems a key issue is finding the right address, with over a quarter of all tweets detailing how the driver has gone to the wrong location, ten times more than the national average.
As Circuit’s co-founder and CEO Jack Underwood says,
“As the move to e-commerce continues to accelerate, the pressure on our couriers will only increase. Right now, we’re gearing up for the vital retail periods of Black Friday and Christmas while simultaneously going through a driver deficit. Delivery issues are already known to turn customers away from retailers* and cause huge dissatisfaction. The courier companies must do whatever they can to improve their services, as we know from our data that Black Friday alone causes a delivery uplift of 55%.
While it’s understandable that there will be errors when processing millions of deliveries, the number of issues that do occur is simply too high. Courier companies must embrace technology further, and work more closely with recipients to ensure packages can arrive timely and at a timer when they can actually be accepted.”
For further detail on the findings, please visit:
