In 2022, 53% of consumers abandoned the purchasing process due to excessively long shipping times [source: MarketingProfs].
More than half of the users are looking for speedy shipments. This means that companies and carriers need to offer increasingly fast shipping options.
At this point in time, there are 3 main shipping options to choose from:
In this article we will tackle Instant delivery, what it is, how it works, trends and statistics for 2025, and which partners you could work with.
Instant delivery is a super quick shipping service that allows you to deliver parcels in a short amount of time.
Delivery times with instant delivery are in fact between two hours and 15 minutes from the moment the customer places the order.
| 1 hour | The average delivery time with an instant delivery service from the moment the customer places the order. |
One of the industries where instant delivery is most commonly applied is the food sector. From the most popular delivery services to the pizza parlour in the neighbourhood, deliveries are made within a few hours.
We’ll exclude supermarkets, which, on the other hand, travel on longer timescales given the very high volume of requests. In these cases we tend to speak of same-day delivery.
What is the difference between instant delivery and same-day delivery? Time. Basically, with same-day delivery you can deliver your order within 24 hours, not sooner.
Instant delivery was born to deliver products from local shops or businesses. Today, it has also opened up to national or international business, but how is it possible to reduce delivery times so much when distances are expanding?
Generally, instant delivery services allow you to allocate a small stock of goods within warehouses scattered in the most densely populated areas (not surprisingly, market players start from urban centres such as Rome and London).
Once the order is received, the parcel is picked up and shipped the last mile by road vehicles. The most advanced couriers offer an environmentally friendly last mile delivery system using electric vehicles: a great way to work on your company's environmental footprint.
All companies can use the instant delivery service for their deliveries. There are some industries, though, that can benefit more from it:
The development of e-commerce has been a major trend over the last decade, and the Covid-19 pandemic only accelerated its growth. This rise in e-commerce sales has driven demand for home delivery. Fewer customers are heading to brick-and-mortar stores, making it challenging for brands to engage directly with their customers. Some interesting numbers on delivery options for online purchases are that:
As a result, the delivery experience becomes an extension and direct reflection of the brand. And with this rise in e-commerce sales, delivery has become a core factor of the online shopping experience. According to E-Commerce Europe, 74.5% bought physical goods online. That’s over 404 million people receiving parcels. These numbers prove that ordering online is often the go-to choice for buying goods and an unavoidable part of this process is shipping and delivery.
In the past, delivery costs may have been the main factor in not purchasing a product from a particular retailer. However, things have changed with consumers becoming more demanding of this service. They expect brands to make an effort by offering attractive, convenient delivery options. 58% of all customers buys from one retailer over another because of a greater choice of delivery options.
To improve the delivery experience, customers expect 3 main topics to be covered:
Partnering with a last-mile delivery specialist such as Stuart lets retailers further reduce their environmental impact by consolidating their orders with other retailers. Stuart's technology groups parcels according to their destination, while delivery routes are optimised to minimise the number of vehicles and journeys required to deliver to end consumers.
Stuart is Europe's leading on-demand logistics platform that connects companies to a fleet of geo-localised, high-quality, environmentally friendly vehicles. Their platform enables companies in any industry to deliver to their customers with unprecedented speed and efficiency. Retailers, e-merchants, grocery shops, and restaurants can launch deliveries through an easy-to-use dashboard or fully automate them by integrating Stuart's powerful technology into their checkout.
"Our growth path in Europe has been incredibly fast since our launch in 2015 and we know that the Italian market needs a continuous, fast and accurate delivery service to meet consumer demand. The pandemic has created new consumer behaviours and expectations and fast delivery is a service that has seen a strong increase in demand over the last two years and is not slowing down," commented Andrea Galla, General Manager Italy at Stuart.
They offer a range of services including instant, same-day, and next-day delivery. Stuart is the ideal solution for companies that want to delight their customers with flexible and express delivery options. Since 2015, the company has grown to operate in 150 cities in countries such as France, Spain, Poland, Portugal, Italy and the UK. Stuart is part of the DPD Group and our mission is to revolutionise the last mile and bring smart delivery solutions to businesses across Europe.