One third of online shoppers welcome to drone deliveries

One third (33%) of online shoppers would be willing to opt for delivery by drones, according to the latest consumer research from eDigitalResearch.

Of those open to the idea of drone deliveries, over half (68%) feel that faster delivery is the main benefit to the new delivery technology, while another 40% believe it would offer them cheaper and more convenient delivery options.

However, nearly half (47%) feel that left packages is the biggest disadvantage of delivery by drone, while another 39% believe that the technology is unreliable and only able to cope with parcels of a certain size.

eDigitalResearch surveyed 2,000 online shoppers and found that, of those opposed to the idea of drone delivery, 35% were unsure what drone deliveries would involve and what the real benefits were.

Overall, just 17% of those surveyed are confident that drone deliveries will be introduced into the UK in the near future.

Online retailing giant Amazon remain the pioneer behind drone deliveries with its Amazon Prime Air initiative and announced late last year that it was in search of an engineer to begin trial flights in the UK.

Chris Russell, Joint CEO at eDigitalResearch, and Professor of Digital Consumers at University College London, said: “Whether drone deliveries ever come to fruition in this country is yet to be seen.

“Amazon continue to surge forward with their Prime Air scheme and if they’re able to get it off the ground, could revolutionise the delivery and fulfilment sector.”