Almost a third of Brits had problems with online Christmas shopping
Of those shoppers that had encountered problems, 49 percent had suffered from missed deliveries, while 45 percent had experienced late deliveries or never received their goods.
A significant number of online Christmas shoppers (39 percent) opted to use click and collect services. Those that did cited avoiding delivery charges (61 percent) and the greater convenience offered (53 percent) as their biggest motivations. Of those shoppers who used click and collect, just over a third (34 percent) stated they would use the same system more next Christmas too.
To emphasise the point, a quarter of online Christmas shoppers stated they chose to shop specifically with a retailer that offered click and collect over one that solely offered home delivery.
The research was conducted by YouGov among 2,400 UK adults on behalf of retail and supply chain software company JDA. Jason Shorrock, retail strategy director at JDA, said: "Christmas 2014 was undoubtedly the year that online shoppers saw click and collect as a viable alternative to home delivery.
"Shoppers want greater flexibility as to how and when they receive their online goods. But at the same time it is clear that home delivery reliability around the Christmas period remains something of a lottery."
There were however issues around click and collect too, with 30 percent of those using click and collect experiencing long waiting times due to a lack of in-store staff. And 29 percent cited the lack of an area in-store for click and collect 'purchases, while 25 percent said staff were unable to find their purchase or took a long time to source their goods in-store.
The research found that 47 percent of Brits did at least half of their Christmas shopping online.