Ecommerce isn’t slowing down in 2026. If anything, it’s becoming less forgiving.

Shoppers have more choices, less patience and are willing to shop elsewhere if the friction is too high. But what can cause such impactful friction? The perception of expensive, unclear or risky delivery.

As a result, the delivery experience has become a primary part of the brand experience and can be a major driver of loyalty. A recent Roadie survey of 1,000 ecommerce shoppers reinforces the point: Consumers are sensitive to delivery problems and will keep them in mind the next time they shop. For leaders in retail, this means your delivery solution is reflective of your brand’s reputation.

To succeed, retailers need to address consumer expectations strategically. That means working with delivery solutions that offer the flexibility to satisfy diverse needs and the reliability to do so while protecting profitability.

Consumers Balance Risk & Urgency in Delivery

According to Roadie research, free delivery is still the top expectation among consumers. More than half of survey respondents (58%) said free delivery matters most in their delivery experience.

But that doesn’t mean anything goes as long as the price point is $0. Consumers are also clear about the issues that break their trust in a retailer:

• Damaged items (47%)
• Orders never received (45%)
• High delivery costs (38%)

And those concerns get amplified for certain categories. Nearly half of respondents (48%) said they’ve avoided ordering oversized or bulky items online due to concerns about damage, timing or simply being home to receive them. When vetting delivery solutions, retailers should prioritize high-visibility platforms that can mitigate these risks before they reach the customer’s doorstep.

At the same time, urgency is real and can change consumer behavior. When shoppers need something fast, they’re willing to pay more for it if the value makes sense. For instance, 65% of respondents said they were satisfied the last time they paid extra for 24-hour delivery.

All this boils down to a reality of 2026 ecommerce delivery: Retailers can’t win with a single delivery offering. Consumers want options.

EXPECTATION #1: A Choice-Driven Delivery Menu

Just as shoppers look for variety in the products available on the shelves, delivery variety is now part of your merchandising strategy. Presenting plenty of options at checkout is essential.

With a strategic set of options, your delivery menu can give customers a sense of control over their purchase. To offer this variety, retailers need a toolset capable of managing multiple speeds, from standard delivery to on-demand, through simple, seamless integration.

Research from the Baymard Institute found that 39% of online shoppers will abandon their carts if delivery costs are too high, and 21% will do so if delivery timelines are too slow. Offering options that run the gamut from fast to free (or both if you can swing it) helps ensure you’ll please more shoppers more of the time.

The Roadie Difference: Roadie integrates seamlessly with your existing systems and processes, allowing you to manage all your deliveries, from standard parcels to same-day oversized items, within a single suite. This makes it easy to give your shoppers the control they crave without having to manage multiple systems.

EXPECTATION #2: Trust & Transparency

In the same way that willingness to pay for delivery changes depending on the perceived (or actual) value of the item, so do shoppers’ expectations of visibility into the delivery experience. In 2026, consumers want transparency about the delivery experience from the time they order to the moment their item arrives.

That’s why features like scheduled delivery windows are increasingly important, particularly for orders with special circumstances. For instance, survey respondents didn’t rate customized delivery windows as a top priority until their item’s size or price reached a certain threshold. For oversized items, the share of shoppers prioritizing dedicated delivery windows climbed to 84% and rose further to 88% for items costing more than $200. When customers can choose a delivery window that fits their schedule, trust in their retailer increases as the uncertainty and risk around their delivery experience decreases.

Moreover, after free delivery, consumers rated live order tracking as the next most important feature of a positive delivery experience. Together, these preferences confirm that the more enterprise-grade transparency features retailers can offer — like live tracking and scheduled delivery windows — the happier their customers will be.

The Roadie Difference: Roadie enables transparency through tools like photographic proof of delivery and live tracking that retailers need to keep “Where Is My Order?” (WISMO) calls low and customer satisfaction high. While regional delivery options command only 52% consumer trust, Roadie boosts that to 70% by enabling the granular tracking that customers demand.

EXPECTATION #3: Oversized Items have Oversized Needs

As mentioned, nearly half of the respondents have avoided ordering big and bulky items online for various reasons. As the Roadie report says, “the last thing consumers want is a large, heavy or awkward item left in the wrong place where they have to find a way to move it themselves.”

Retailers can capture this “lost” revenue by utilizing platforms with specialized networks designed to move bulky items at faster delivery speeds.

The Roadie Difference: If you sell oversized items, 2026 is the year to start working with a delivery network designed specifically to address potential issues with extra-large inventory. Roadie solutions are designed to allow you to deliver big and bulky goods quickly and reliably, removing the friction that stops shoppers from clicking “buy.”

EXPECTATION #4: Delivery that Fits the Moment

What the Consumer Same-Day Delivery Report boils down to is that consumers expect retailers to adapt to the delivery speed, cost and fulfillment methods that suit them best.

This all happens behind the scenes, of course. Shoppers don’t care what your logistics model looks like; they want to see items on their doorstep quickly and on time. But to achieve this, retailers need an agile solution that can scale instantly, allowing the brand to pivot delivery methods based on a customer’s specific location or the urgency of the moment.

What consumers want is varied. The research speaks for itself:

• 32% of survey respondents said they’ve purchased an item from a particular retailer because they offered the fastest delivery.
• 67% are willing to wait more than two days to get deliveries for free.
• 34% purchase additional items, and 29% enroll in loyalty programs to get free delivery benefits.
• 65% said they were completely or very satisfied with paying extra for delivery within 24 hours.

Each individual customer’s priorities dictate the type and price of the delivery option they choose for any given purchase.

The Roadie Difference: Roadie gives retailers the elastic delivery capacity to meet seasonal spikes or sudden shifts in demand. Such flexibility ensures you never have to turn away a customer because you couldn’t keep up with the fulfillment speed your brand promised.

Thriving in the 2026 Delivery Economy

In 2026, delivery is a brand differentiator, evident in easy customer-facing delivery options and back-end logistics that keep you productive and profitable.

Consumers have made their expectations clear: They want options that let them balance urgency and budget. For retailers, succeeding means offering the right delivery experience at the right time, and that starts with choosing a platform equipped with the right tools.

Roadie helps you do just that. By balancing cost-effective options with premium, on-demand delivery experiences, you can meet evolving customer expectations and build lasting brand trust.

Ready to deliver the customer experience you’re striving for in 2026? Reach out today to learn more about how Roadie helps retailers and 3PL partners master the last mile.