Shoppers continue to enjoy online shopping, but e-commerce growth in the United States is slowing down, and consumer preferences have changed over the past two years. What do today’s online shoppers value most about package deliveries? It was delivery speed back in 2022, but that’s now fallen to fifth place, note Partner Sandy Gosling and coauthors. In fact, a McKinsey survey found that 90 percent of customers are willing to wait at least two to three days for their deliveries if the shipping is free.
Image description:
Six line charts display the percentage of consumers willing to accept various delivery times when purchasing items, across different categories. Each chart represents a specific category: overall, consumer electronics, fashion, health and beauty, household consumables, and household durables. The x-axis of each chart uses the same scale, representing delivery times: same day, 1 day, 2–3 days, 4–7 days, more than 7 days, and willing to buy regardless of delivery time. The y-axis shows the percentage of respondents willing to accept each delivery time, ranging from 0 to 100 percent. In each category, the percentage of consumers willing to wait decreases as delivery time increases. The overall chart shows that ~95% of consumers are willing to wait for 2–3 days, with this percentage sharply decreasing to below 40% for deliveries of more than 7 days. The charts for all categories show similar tracks. One anomaly is in the fashion category, where the percentage of consumers willing to wait 4–7 days remains above 80%.
Note: This image description was completed with the assistance of Writer, a gen AI tool.
Source: McKinsey 2024 Voice of Consumer Survey, July 2024.
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To read article, see “What do US consumers want from e-commerce deliveries?,” February 13, 2025.