Delivery delays cause concern this Christmas

Friday, December 23, 2011 - 10:22 by David Aiken

Many people are using safe shopping online to make last minute purchases ahead of December 25th but based on statistics compiled during Christmas 2010, it looks like there will be some disappointed people in the UK whose deliveries do not make it in time for the big day.

Retail analyst, Rahul Sharma, told BBC News, that 13 per cent of people who purchased products from e-commerce sites in the busiest period of 2010 did not end up receiving their parcel at all, while 25 per cent had to wait longer than had been originally advertised for their delivery to arrive.

Another issue which was raised by 20 per cent of consumers was the fact that couriers and postal workers would leave their parcels with a neighbour without having been given permission to do so ahead of time.

A further 20 per cent of people said that they had simply received a card allowing them to collect their parcel later, despite having been at home during the allotted delivery period.

Of course in most instances it is not the fault of the e-commerce firm itself but rather the companies which it relies on to pass on the products you buy via safe shopping online.

Mr Sharma said that the sudden increase in e-commerce usage across the UK had put a strain on the delivery infrastructure. Although the Royal Mail and private companies had been expecting an additional influx of parcels, post and packages this month, it is clear that there has been even more demand than originally thought.

Thankfully, the weather has been kinder in 2011 than it was in 2010 and deliveries have been largely unaffected by snow, unlike last year. Quite whether this trend will continue into early 2012 remains to be seen.