Research shows dissatisfaction with ultra-fast delivery

FASTER DELIVERY is being pushed on consumers within the checkout experience, as retailers and marketplaces compete harder on convenience. But new analysis from logistics technology company, Locus, suggests the shortest delivery promises are also the most likely to break – at a moment when UK shoppers are becoming more cautious and less forgiving of service failures. 

The findings combine new proprietary data from Locus with separate UK consumer research. Across over 500,000 orders handled by Locus customer networks globally, data combined with 2000 UK consumers shows: 

• Brands promising a shorter delivery time demonstrate a 104.5% increase in delays compared to those with longer delivery windows 
• Networks with rapid delivery times experience an average of 4.6 days delayed, compared with 1.1 days delayed for those using wider scheduling windows. 
• Just 4% of UK shoppers expect same-day delivery, while 83% accept two to four days. 
• 94% cite delivery communication failures as their top frustration. 
• Only 7% say fast delivery promises are consistently met.  

On peak operating days, fast-promise networks missed roughly 1 in 22 deliveries, compared with around 1 in 90 for wider-window networks. When those shorter-window networks did miss, delays stretched to an average of 1.5 hours, compared with 48 minutes. 

The race for speed in today’s market is widespread. Amazon has recently expanded one-hour and three-hour delivery, while JD.com has entered the UK and Europe with same-day delivery positioned as a key differentiator in major cities. Conflictingly, UK consumer confidence has weakened, with GfK reporting an 11-month low in March and the British Retail Consortium saying consumer sentiment has fallen to its weakest level since it began tracking it in 2024.  

Nishith Rastogi, Founder and CEO, Locus, said: “Ultra-fast delivery is being pushed into checkout as a default, but most networks are not set up to deliver that consistently. Outside of very dense urban routes, those short windows leave almost no room to recover when something changes. That is why you start to see failure rates rise as soon as you scale it. 

“At the same time, most customers are not asking for one-hour delivery. They are comfortable waiting, as long as the experience is predictable and well handled. 

“The issue is not speed itself, it is where and how it is being applied. Retailers need to be far more selective about when they offer ultra-fast delivery, and make sure the promise reflects what the operation can actually support in that location.”