A survey conducted by Internet Retailer has found that many people have ducked out of ordering products via safe shopping online upon discovering that the delivery of their desired items would take longer than anticipated.

44 per cent of respondents admitted to abandoning online baskets as a result of unsatisfactory shipping speed.

This perhaps explains why almost a third of those questioned also said that they had paid out for same-day delivery in order to get access to their e-commerce orders as quickly as possible.

The importance of efficient shipping seems to outweigh other sticking points, such as price. Consumers are happy to pay more so long as they do not have to spend days or even weeks waiting for their delivery.

Just over half of the major e-commerce sites that were covered in the study were found to provide customers with the option of selecting next-day delivery at checkout. This means that there is still a large proportion of the marketplace in which this is simply unavailable, meaning that consumers could be dissuaded from shopping with specific retailers for a fairly simple reason.

47 per cent of outlets were found to have click and collect as a delivery option, meaning customers can order for same-day pickup from a nearby outlet. Those that do not have physical stores can provide similar services through partner locations, although this does make same-day delivery harder to guarantee.

Consumers’ expectations are constantly rising in a number of areas, with delivery being perhaps the most important aspect of the online shopping experience. There is little tolerance for things like delayed shipping, missed delivery attempts or any other hiccups that can occur during this vital stage, especially with so much competition in the marketplace making even minor errors unacceptable.