Brits Prioritize Free Shipping Over the Environment

Seven in ten UK adults say that free shipping is one of the most important criteria to them when it comes to ordering online. Free returns are also important to around half of respondents, along with speedy shipping times. According to data from Statista’s Consumer Insights Special on Sustainable Consumption, fewer would make choices based on environmental reasons such as how much waste packaging is produced (38 percent), whether it was environmentally friendly packaging (32 percent) or if it was CO2 neutral shipping (12 percent).

In the same survey, UK respondents were asked about how many of their last 10 online orders they had returned. It found that the largest share (41 percent) had returned between 2-3 of the orders, while roughly a third (32 percent) had returned one out of ten parcels, 16 percent returned 4-7 and 10 percent returned 8-10. Where 44 percent were in principle willing to pay more for environmentally friendly shipping, for example if it was CO2 neutral, it depended on the amount of the surcharge. Only 19 percent said they would definitely pay more, while 32 percent said they would not.