Issues with packages
Online Shopping & Delivery — Part 5
Research of the Hungarian market
In recent years, everyone has experienced how the world of online shopping has changed our lives. The exponential growth of online purchases and the widespread use of online platforms have created new opportunities for businesses, while providing consumers with convenient and fast access to a wide range of products and services.
Based on our research into online order delivery, in this series of articles we will present users' expectations and experiences of online order payment, delivery and communication during the process.
A non-representative online questionnaire, in-depth interviews and desk research preceded this article. In our questionnaire survey, we interviewed participants between the ages of 16 and 75.
Online Shopping & Delivery Series
We introduce the preferred payment methods among customers. We explore the criteria they use to make decisions and their attitude towards the increasingly popular virtual card payments.
#2 — The Economic Effects of COVID-19
We discuss the economic impact on online shopping. We look at whether the change in shopping habits during the Covid period has continued, and we outline how the growing inflationary environment may influence users' decisions regarding payment and delivery methods.
In this article, we take a look at customer feedback on different delivery methods and preferences. We also discuss how the choice of delivery method by product category influences customers, as well as what they think about environmentally friendly delivery methods.
From the moment of ordering, the status of the ordered products and communication related to pickup are crucial. In this article, we have focused on which messages and notifications are considered important by customers.
#5 - Issues with packages and seeking for help
In this article, we discuss customers' perceptions of the safety of online shopping, what items they return, and their fears and expectations of shopping on international websites.
Reliability of the online store
Several issues arise concerning the orders during online shopping. Besides the fact that the package can arrive faulty or damaged, we need to concern the reliability of the specific online store. As the number of online shoppers has increased in recent years, so has the number of cases where individuals have fallen victim to scams. In such cases, these shoppers either disclosed their banking details to a third party who exploited them, or they did not receive the desired product after making the payment.
Our respondents believe that a certain level of digital literacy is needed to recognize phishing emails and SMS messages that request them to share their email address or share their banking details. This danger is primarily present among the older generations, as they spend less time online and lack experience in knowing when, to whom, and what kind of data is safe to share.
Younger generations, more active in the digital world and engaging in online orders, tend to be more cautious about the security of a particular online store. According to our research, people who are skeptical about purchasing from a certain online store use digital solutions, such as single-use virtual cards, to avoid payment issues.
A single-use virtual card is a digital card that generates a unique card number after each use, eliminating the risk of the entire amount being accessible to scammers.
General fears about online shopping
Besides of the payment security issues, based on feedback from our respondents, the biggest fears include receiving a faulty or damaged package (26%) or not receiving it at all (21%). To avoid these fears, online stores should properly inform the users about how the product can be returned.
17% of respondents said they are worried if they cannot find information on the website about how to return a product. It is also a common concern that the product ordered online is not the same colour or size as it appears online. This was highlighted as a problem by 16% of our respondents.
On-time delivery is also an important consideration for our respondents. When buying a birthday gift online, on-time delivery is the most important consideration. 10% of our respondents are concerned that the package will not arrive at the promised time.
1. chart: The biggest fears about ordering a package online
Issues regarding delivery
A common problem is that the customer does not see the product until it is delivered. In many cases, it is only when the ordered product arrives that the customer discovers the problem. For example, if the customer buys a fridge, a typical problem is that due to the size and weight of the product, the package containing the product can be easily damaged during delivery, resulting in bumps and scratches on the product.
To avoid these issues, customers like to open the package in front of the courier to check the condition of the product together, so that they can immediately indicate if they do not want to receive it and want to return it. In the case of a damaged or broken product, our respondents typically expect a replacement product or a discount from the seller.
International Packages
Most respondents have bought products from abroad. According to them, they are usually more patient with long international deliveries, but in this case tracking the order plays a key role. For orders within Europe, they typically have positive experiences, delivery is considered fast, and the ordered package usually arrives within the specified time. At the same time, orders from outside Europe are considered problematic by customers, as delivery takes longer and tasks related to customs clearance complicate the process. The inconvenience is mainly caused by the fact that they only receive information about the customs clearance when the package arrives in Hungary, the related documentation tasks are complicated to fill in and the customs fees can be very expensive.
Returns
The possibility to return the product is an essential service for many types of products. If the possibility of return is not guaranteed, it is easy for the customer to stop shopping there and visit another online store where this is guaranteed. According to our data, half of the respondents have returned a product at least once.
2. chart: Returning online ordered product
Clothes are the most likely to be returned products by our respondents (35%). This is caused by that we have many more impulses when we shop in person. In a store, we can easily decide whether we want to buy a sweater with a simple try before we buy, but when we shop online, we can not do that. For example, you can feel the material of the sweater, its thickness, and you can see its true color and shade. And by trying it on you can see how comfortable it is and how it fits. All of this helps in the decision-making process. These experiences are limited when you shop online. The decision has to be made based on the images and sizes available in the online store.
3. chart: Frequently returned product categories
Electronic devices are the second most frequently mentioned product category (24%). While for clothing the main reason may simply be 'I don't like it', this is not typical for electronics. For these products, returns within the warranty period are the most common. For example, a typical problem with a pair of earphones are that they do not perform as promised, the battery runs out quickly, or the accessories are easily damaged in everyday use.
The third most returned category for our respondents was sports and leisure equipment (10%). When choosing roller skates, for example, it's important that they are the right size and that the wheels can withstand the demands of heavy use on a hot summer street.
The least returned product categories were medicines and books. These products do not have easily breakable technical parts and external damage is less significant. We can say that our respondents consider the ability to return goods to be a fundamental value these days, so it is essential for any online shop to ensure this.