One third of online shoppers open to drone deliveries
New research has found that one third of online shoppers would be willing to have their orders delivered by drones.
The study of 2,000 shoppers by eDigitalResearch shows that 68% of shoppers who were open to the idea of drone deliveries felt that faster delivery would be the main benefit of the new delivery technology, while another 40% believed it would offer them cheaper and more convenient delivery options.
However, there was also a fear that the introduction of drone deliveries would lead to an increased risk of parcels being left unattended and open to damage. Some 47% felt that left packages would be the biggest disadvantage of delivery by drone, while another 39% believed that the technology would be unreliable and only able to cope with parcels of a certain size.
In addition, the research shows that knowledge and trust surrounding drones is currently extremely low. eDigitalResearch found 35% of shoppers opposed to the idea of drone delivery were unsure what drone deliveries would involve and what the real benefits would be.
Furthermore, just 17% of those surveyed felt confident that drone deliveries would be introduced into the UK in the near future.
The study found that the majority of consumers would be happy to receive smaller, relatively low-cost goods via drones. Some 54% said they would be comfortable drones delivering their books, CDs and DVD online orders, while 35% would consider having clothing and footwear items delivered via the new technology.
Chris Russell, joint chief executive at eDigitalResearch and professor of digital consumers at University College London, said: “Whether drone deliveries ever come to fruition in this country is yet to be seen. Amazon continue to surge forward with their Prime Air scheme and if they’re able to get it off the ground, could revolutionise the delivery and fulfilment sector.
“We’re starting to see consumers becoming increasingly frustrated with wait times of 3-5 days for their online orders – the introduction of drone deliveries could completely change all of that. But – and there’s a big one – if we are to see drone deliveries take off, there will need to be vast investment in trying to increase consumer knowledge, trust and confidence in the technology.”
