British shoppers are preparing to spend big this Christmas, with new data suggesting a record festive season, but damaged parcels are impacting retailer profits. Research commissioned by DS Smith, an International Paper company, reveals that nearly one in four UK shoppers (23%) received a damaged parcel in the past year – the equivalent of over 12 million Brits.
But four in five retailers (81%) say damaged deliveries are a problem for their business, with nearly a third (32%) reporting a negative impact on brand reputation.
The cost of damaged deliveries for retailers is significant. According to the research, UK retailers each spend an average of £7,646 a month managing replacements and returns due to damage. This surge in broken deliveries is taking a toll on customer retention as well as retailer profits.
More than half (51%) of consumers say they would be less likely to shop with a retailer again after receiving a damaged item, even though more than four in five (81%) understand that damage may be out of the retailer’s control.
Meanwhile, the average cost to consumers per damaged item is £82.30, pushing the UK’s total annual damage bill to more than £2.5 billion, up from £2.3 billion last year. Top damaged product categories include household goods (30%), food and drink (26%), and health and beauty (20%).
To address the challenge, DS Smith has pioneered a testing process for e-commerce packaging called DISCS (Drop, Impact, Shake, Crush, Shock). Comprising five pieces of equipment, the process replicates the stresses and strains of the e-commerce supply chain to effectively provide reliable, real-world testing. With festive spending predicted to rise again this year, DS Smith is urging retailers not to overlook the final step in the customer journey: getting products to doorsteps safely.
Ashwin Moorthy, Head of Design & Innovation at DS Smith, said, “December is crunch time for consumers and retailers. With so many shoppers going online, protecting deliveries has never been more important– before small mistakes snowball into bigger issues for their hard-earned customers. The key to solving this challenge is great design, rigorous testing and constant innovation. Using our unique robotics-based testing, we recreate the journey of parcels from the warehouse to your house, so we can put packaging through its paces and then do everything we can to help protect what’s inside. By working with our customers to improve packaging design, we’re helping them to limit damage, reduce waste and avoid the unnecessary costs that come with damaged parcels.”
