2024 is well underway, and consumers are (as always) voicing their e-commerce preferences and expectations. According to recent reporting, high proportions of consumers want ultra-fast delivery, as well as flexibility of delivery timing, and an environmentally sustainable (but still fast) delivery option for good measure.
How can businesses expect to keep up with these urgent and often contradictory demands? The Amazons of the world can more easily snap to attention and give shoppers whatever they desire, which raises consumers’ expectations that any delivery option is possible and forces smaller businesses to find a way to offer them, too.
Thankfully, there is a logistics option that can help businesses of all sizes respond quickly and effectively. With crowdsourced delivery, businesses can simultaneously address the 80% of customers who want sustainability and the 24% (and growing) who want to place an order during breakfast and receive it by lunch. Here’s a closer look at those stats and more, and how crowdsourcing can address them all.
Same-day delivery demand will grow by more than 20% in 2024
Approaching almost $10 billion in 2024, the same-day delivery market is truly booming. Increased e-commerce is a major contributing factor, but at 21.2% year-over-year, same-day delivery is growing more than twice as fast as the e-commerce market alone.
So what’s driving the demand for ultra-fast delivery? With increased online shopping, retailers are fighting for every dollar spent, and same-day delivery is a differentiator that can win them more business. Even Amazon is upping the ante in 2024 by increasing its same-day delivery capacity, which means other businesses will need to follow suit to keep up.
68% percent of shoppers look for shorter delivery windows at checkout
More than two-thirds of shoppers (68%) say the availability of shorter delivery windows at checkout is the determining factor in their purchases. But to make that happen, retailers need to have a responsive logistics mix.
While traditional carriers may have some fast delivery options, same-day is rarely among them — and when it is, it comes at a cost. Adding crowdsourced delivery is the easiest way to economically offer same-day delivery options at check-out. By leveraging wide driver nets, like the Roadie network of 200,000 independent drivers nationwide, crowdsourcing effectively shortens the distance between retailers’ inventory and their customers, without the cost of expedited or LTL shipping fees.
24 Hours: Length of time most consumers prefer to wait for their order
So how fast is “fast delivery?” As of June 2022, about half of online shoppers were willing to wait two to three days for their orders to arrive, while 30% said they’d “prefer to wait” just one day, and 8% wanted same-day delivery.
Just one year later, the proportion of shoppers expecting same-day delivery skyrocketed. By April of 2023, Statista data found that 41% of shoppers “hoped to receive” their orders within 24 hours, and a whopping 24% expected a delivery window of just two hours. Talk about ultrafast!
As all of this data was reported prior to Amazon’s expanded same-day delivery push, it’s easy to see that the rapid growth of same-day delivery isn’t just a forecast or prediction: It’s a documented trend with no sign of slowing down — and one that crowdsourced delivery is perfectly positioned to address.
With the ability to provide delivery windows as short as two hours, crowdsourcing with Roadie can fill customers’ needs for everything from last-minute party supplies to construction materials to finish a job. Even health care facilities are leveraging ultrafast delivery for supplies and equipment, and the down-to-the-hour delivery windows are ideal for popular grocery and meal kit services. No matter the industry, crowdsourcing offers the delivery speed customers demand.
72% of customers prioritize convenient delivery times
While fast is often consumers’ main focus, their other key priority is convenience. Meeting customers where they are is essential. From retailers that need to reposition inventory between warehouses and brick-and-mortar stores to construction crews that want equipment and materials delivered directly to a jobsite, there are some requests that traditional carriers can’t offer with any level of efficiency.
Crowdsourcing solves this problem. Not only can it offer the flexibility to deliver anything to any location quickly, but crowdsourcing also improves customer convenience by eliminating order cut-off times. While traditional carriers must stop taking same-day or next-day orders by, say, midday, crowdsourced drivers are available at any time of day or night. If a retailer’s team is on hand to pick and pack an order, independent drivers on the Roadie platform are ready to deliver it.
80% of shoppers are willing to wait for sustainable delivery
Sustainability is the third leg of the consumer demand stool when it comes to delivery options. Shoppers are looking for ways to lower their carbon footprints, and retailers benefit, too. Besides helping the planet, sustainable shipments can reduce packaging materials, wear and tear on delivery vehicles and the costs associated with both.
No one knows this better than Amazon, which added “Amazon Day” to their delivery options in 2019. When selected, a customer’s orders are delayed by about a day so items can be gathered and shipped in a single box, rather than using more packaging and labor to send each item individually. Amazon rewards shoppers for their patience with free shipping or a small refund. Amazon says the service reduces the number of boxes by an average of 30% per order and saved 180 million boxes in 2022.
Whether it’s the free shipping or the warm-fuzzy feeling of saving the planet, more consumers are willing to wait for their packages in favor of sustainability. A recent survey found that eight in 10 consumers will wait at least one day for sustainable shipping. Moreover, three-quarters of shoppers (76.6%) say companies use excessive packaging when shipping products and that the amount and type of packaging have a “moderate to high impact on environmental sustainability.”
Having said that, there is a sustainable delivery tipping point. Willingness to wait for deliveries drops sharply after the one-day delay. Less than half of shoppers (45%) are willing to wait two days, and only 15.6% will wait three days or longer.
So what’s the solution for sustainable delivery with no delay? Crowdsourcing. Most crowdsourced last-mile deliveries require no extra packaging whatsoever, such as shrink wrap or packing peanuts. That saves your business money on packing material and improves the efficiency of your picking-and-packing teams, without leaving your customers waiting for their packages.
Exceed customer expectations with crowdsourcing.
As the same-day delivery landscape skyrockets, businesses must adapt to meet evolving consumer expectations — and crowdsourced delivery is proving to be an ideal solution. The statistics speak volumes, but so do the benefits: Crowdsourcing not only addresses consumer demands of speed, convenience and sustainability but also offers cost-effective, flexible and eco-friendly last-mile delivery.
It’s not too late to add crowdsourced delivery to your 2024 logistics mix. The Roadie team is on hand to start a smooth and seamless integration, supporting your team every step of the way. Check out this 20-question checklist to get started, or connect with Roadie today to learn more.
