The Future of E-Commerce Shipping: Why Home Delivery Isn’t Delivering

For years, home delivery has been the default shipping option for online shoppers, offering unmatched convenience – especially with the rise of super-fast services like Amazon Prime, where an order placed in the morning can be at your doorstep by evening.

But cracks in the home delivery model are becoming impossible to ignore, and growing numbers of shoppers are choosing pickup at checkout instead.

In fact, our research shows that 70% of shoppers now want the option to collect their orders from lockers or local pickup points. Why? Because it’s often more flexible, secure, affordable and sustainable. 

Here are 5 critical issues with home delivery…

1. Porch piracy

Package theft is an increasingly common problem. In America last year, porch pirates stole $12 billion in packages and as many as 58 million Americans became victims.

Even worse, HubBox research shows 37% of consumers say they’ve been put off shopping with a retailer again after experiencing package theft. Understandably, it’s especially concerning for shoppers ordering high-value goods.

The risks for retailers are bigger than just lost packages – it leads to bad customer reviews and a flood of customer support tickets, damaging operational efficiency and pushing returning customers away.

Curbside pickup eliminates the threat of porch piracy. Instead of worrying about packages being left on doorsteps or stolen from communal mail areas, customers can pick up their orders at a time and location that suits them – knowing their items are safe until they arrive.

2. Delivery anxiety is real

Sitting at home waiting for the doorbell to ring isn’t fun – especially if you’ve got somewhere to be and tracking updates are unclear. It’s no surprise 72% of shoppers told us they feel anxious about delivery reliability. 

By choosing pickup at checkout instead of home delivery, customers can gain control over when and where they collect their orders. No more missed deliveries, no more vague ‘out for delivery’ notifications, and fewer customer service inquiries about lost or delayed packages. This leads to a smoother, less stressful experience for shoppers compared to home delivery.

3. Hybrid working

With hybrid working now the norm, many consumers are no longer at home consistently during standard delivery hours. This shift makes traditional delivery windows harder to meet, leading to an increase in failed delivery attempts. 

Our research shows that hybrid workers are 35% more likely to choose pickup at checkout over home delivery. It means they can collect their packages when and where it suits their schedule – whether that’s near the office, from a locker en route home or at a local store. 

4. Growing demand for greener options 

Consumers are becoming more environmentally conscious, with 66% of shoppers saying sustainability impacts their purchase decisions. At the same time, regulators are pushing for lower-emission delivery options. Traditional home delivery creates unnecessary carbon emissions – especially when failed attempts result in multiple delivery trips.

Local pickup can help cut emissions by consolidating deliveries. In urban areas, this can be as much as 85%, according to HubBox research. Fewer failed deliveries mean no wasted miles from second or third attempts, making offering pickup at checkout a simple but powerful way for retailers to embrace the future of e-commerce delivery and reduce their carbon footprint.

5. Rising shipping costs

Shipping rates have risen steeply for lots of retailers, with many facing additional surcharges for residential deliveries and during peak season. At the same time, customers still expect fast and free delivery, making it difficult for retailers to balance cost and service.

Offering pickup at checkout is a cost-effective alternative, reducing delivery costs by up to 25% compared to home delivery. Retailers can often pass these savings on to customers, reducing cart abandonment caused by high shipping fees. 

The future of e-commerce delivery? It’s pickup

As home delivery fails to deliver, pickup is surging in popularity. As mentioned earlier, a massive 70% of online shoppers now want the option of pickup at checkout. However, only 2% of retailers actually offer it. That’s because of a challenge with adoption – for retailers and shipping carriers.

The ‘pickup at checkout’ adoption challenge 

Carriers have already switched on to the move away from home delivery and  invested in expansive pickup networks, but many of these remain underutilized. 

To increase pickup order volume, more retailers need to offer pickup at checkout – and more consumers need to choose it over home delivery.

However, very few Out-of-Home carriers provide retailers witheasy-to-use software that enables them to  offer pickup at checkout, leading to a low adoption rate of pickup. 

HubBox provides a complete toolkit designed to accelerate pickup adoption for carriers that become a partner. 

With best-in-class software optimized for 32 key adoption drivers, a specialized sales approach, and expert-led integration strategies, HubBox helps carriers grow their OOH networks exponentially.