It is sometimes difficult to believe that e-commerce has only been with us for a couple of decades.
In that time, the ability to place orders online has wrought terrific change throughout the global retail sector.
For those able to appeal sufficiently to shoppers, the rewards are immense.
Within the last few weeks, in fact, researchers have predicted that European consumers will be buying some €900 billion worth of goods online by 2028 – more than double the sum spent just five years ago.
Yet there are challenges, not least the fact that the sheer value of items purchased presents opportunities for criminals as well as legitimate businesses.
Ensuring that products reach their intended recipients how, when and where they should requires the kind of effort and ingenuity which has seen an increasing number of leading Irish and UK brands opt for the security and first-time delivery success of drop2shop.
They know that Ireland is one of the fastest growing e-commerce markets.
This year, the total amount of orders placed by Irish e-shoppers is likely to top €7.1 billion – up 11.6 per cent on the figure for 2023.
Furthermore, online sales generated by the country’s consumers are forecast to rise still further by 46 per cent by the end of 2028.
Not all of the goods bought are expensive items but every single one has a value to retailers, shoppers and to thieves.
One comprehensive global study has estimated that a staggering one billion packages were either lost or stolen in the 12 months to April 2022.
It concluded that one-third of the many thousands of individuals surveyed around the world had endured such an experience and about 10 per cent of respondents were so disappointed that they abandoned their online shopping habits.
Whilst the research focused on a number of major e-commerce markets, it did not detail incidence in Ireland.
Even so, the latest official Irish data showed that the volume of parcel traffic in Ireland has grown by more than half in recent years, reaching almost 139 million packages in 2022.
With those numbers and the pressure on parcel couriers to do their best to deliver packages swiftly, the potential for theft, especially of those items left outside recipients’ homes, is considerable.
As well as giving rise to a label for a new type of criminal – the ‘porch pirate’ – it has prompted Irish police to issue advice to consumers about how to avoid having their purchases stolen.
Such guidance includes taking advantage of ‘click and collect’ services offered in-store by retailers and a variety of Pick-Up and Drop-Off (PUDO) facilities.
Although the main factors for introducing a PUDO network like drop2shop are the speed and convenience which it provides shoppers with, security is an integral part of the system.
drop2shop is a proven, fast, paperless operation which enables consumers to pick up and return purchases at premises of their choice, avoiding the prospect of goods being left unattended outside their front doors, on window ledges or in wheelie bins.
In the last year, the number of participating stores across the Republic has increased by more than 50 per cent.
Through our collaboration with BWG Foods, drop2shop already had access to Ireland’s largest network of convenience stores, including familiar brands such as Eurospar, Spar, Mace, XL and Londis.
Yet we have increased our footprint due to a partnership with Boots, which has seen drop2shop offered to consumers in 81 of the health and beauty retailer’s Irish premises.
Such an infrastructure offers more than convenience. Drop2shop provides certainty of delivery and the reassurance that orders won’t be picked off on the doorstep by ‘porch pirates’.
That’s important for retailers too because they know that customer satisfaction is a key part of developing the kind of brand loyalty which translates into repeat business.