The boom in online shopping is providing a positive knock-on effect to an array of small bricks-and-mortar businesses across the country, finds new research commissioned by parcel collection network Hubbed.
According to the survey of 1005 Aussie shoppers, retailers who use collection point networks for customer deliveries are giving participating outlets a major secondary boost when customers go in to collect their parcels.
The findings reveal that when 61% of respondents picked up their parcels from their local collection location – such as consumer retail outlets, petrol stations, newsagents, and storage facilities – it was the first time they had visited that outlet.
59% of shoppers surveyed also made a purchase from the local collection point while picking up their parcel. This, says Hubbed, indicates that online retailers who use parcel collection networks are providing valuable additional revenue stream for local businesses on top of their fee for being a collection facility.
“As the country moves into a phase of recovery, e-commerce retailers and consumers alike can support the local, smaller players in the community to help drive their business, by choosing to use collection point networks as alternative delivery options,” says Hubbed founder and CEO David McLean.
“Parcel collection networks can have a positive knock-on effect on the small businesses that comprise the Hubbed collection point network, which includes independent retail outlets.”