People in the UK love safe shopping online, but many consumers would be even more eager to engage with particular retail brands if given the option to buy items and have them delivered on the same day, according to a new report from Stuart.

Analysts found that a third of people will only shop with a high street outlet which has a same day delivery option at checkout, while 79 per cent said that they would be willing to swap to a different store, if their preferred retailer did not live up to expectations in terms of shipping method variety.

Eighty eight per cent of people questioned in the study said that they believe it is necessary for bricks and mortar retailers that offer safe shopping online to enhance the selection of delivery services that are available to customers. It seems there is a clear opportunity for companies to capitalise on this and gain the competitive edge, even over pure play e-commerce outlets like Amazon.

Report spokesperson, David Saenz, said that high street chains could be missing out on up to £4.9 billion each year as a result of failing to offer same day delivery. He suggested that this was an easy issue to address and could enable one or two firms to take the initiative and outpace their rivals.

A typical consumer will spend £168 with a particular retailer on an annual basis if the company is able to deliver items on the same day they are ordered. This further implies that while click and collect services have become a popular form of delivery, plenty of shoppers would rather stay at home and allow items to be delivered to their door, rather than jumping in the car and heading to a bricks and mortar outlet.