Franchise business CouriersPlease has revealed the future of online shopping may lie in flexible delivery times rather than speed of service.

A survey of consumers asking what they would like to see in the online shopping industry showed weekend parcel delivery and after-hours delivery to be the most popular requests.

Nearly half of the surveyed consumers (48 per cent) valued same-day delivery – the third most popular choice – but only 22 per cent wanted three-hour delivery.

Online retailers and shoppers both want more parcel collection and drop off points for customers to collect and return their online orders.

The results come from an independent, nationally representative panel of 1009 Australian consumers who made at least three online purchases in the last six months. The survey was commissioned by parcel delivery service CouriersPlease which also carried out a second survey of 193 online sellers.

CouriersPlease CEO Mark McGinley, said shoppers live busy lives and need delivery solutions.

“Our solution to this problem was to develop an extensive network of free and secure, drop-off and collection points. With over 1000 POPShop retail outlets nationwide, shoppers can pick up their package at a nearby location, and at time that best suits them – including weekends and after-hours.”

McGinley said the business will implement new services this year to improve the delivery process.

“These new technologies will provide consumers with greater visibility over the parcel delivery journey and streamline the overall customer experience,” he said.