Online retailers in the UK are poised to make unprecedented investment in more sustainable deliveries, according to a new report by Barclays.
The report, “Is sustainability the new loyalty in retail and wholesale?” reveals that retailers in the UK with plans to invest in sustainable delivery options will devote an average of 11.4 percent of their revenue to this over the next five years. The most common areas in which businesses expect to invest in the next five years include delivering to central points for local collection (39 percent) and introducing electric vehicles (37 percent).
According to the report, 85 percent of customers would use a scheme where delivery drivers took away packaging or plastic bottles as well as dropping off products, while 58 percent would take up price incentives to click and collect in place of home delivery.
“In 2019 the value of UK online retail sales is expected to reach £80bn, according to economic modelling conducted on behalf of Barclays Corporate Banking. This represents a leap of 17 percent since 2018. Getting purchases into customers’ hands on this scale forms a huge operational element for both online-only and multi-channel retailers,” stated the report.
The report also found that most businesses see more sustainable deliveries as a way to help them boost growth.
Read the report: Is sustainability the new loyalty in retail and wholesale?
