More stores closures likely.
A recent survey by parcel delivery service, CouriersPlease (CP) revealed that 59% of shoppers think the retail industry will be online within the next two to five years and 75% of those surveyed believe there will be more closures of bricks-and-mortar-stores in the next two years. While 25% of survey respondents expected the industry would be online and 35% believed this would happen in five years, just 15% of respondents did not think the retail industry would transition to online.
Respondents were also asked which types of products they would mostly purchase online. Books, DVDs and stationery topped the list, with 75% of respondents likely to do most of their shopping in these categories online. While this suggests that shoppers feel more confident purchasing lower-cost items online, Australians have no trouble buying larger ticket items, with 59% indicating they would buy technology products and 38% would buy whitegoods and appliances online. However, 77% would not do most of their homewares and furniture shopping online.
CP head of commercial & transformation, Jessica Ip said with the industry shifting to online, an increasing number of retailers will need to continue improving a major e-commerce service such as customer deliveries.
“The single biggest request we receive from online shoppers are flexible delivery choices. For this reason, we offer a network of 1,700+ POPPoints nationally, including lockers, and retail outlets, enabling our customers to conveniently collect parcels seven days a week, close to home. We also provide other options like changing delivery, including redirecting to an alternate location and nominating a neighbour to accept the delivery.”