Photo credit: Claudio Schwarz

The Institute for Retail, Sales and Marketing (IHaM) has analysed the inappropriate behaviour of customers towards parcel delivery staff in two international studies in the USA and the UK. The results show that almost all of the 787 delivery staff surveyed are regularly confronted with impatient behaviour, unjustified complaints and even verbal abuse. It is particularly problematic that delivery staff are often blamed for problems that are beyond their control, such as traffic problems.

This exacerbates the already stressful work situation and leads to more and more delivery staff considering leaving the industry. In the long term, this could lead to a labour shortage in the delivery industry, which would result in rising delivery costs, longer delivery times and reduced logistics efficiency.

‘Delivery staff are the human link in the digital purchasing process. Their satisfaction is crucial for the efficiency and quality of deliveries,’ emphasises Prof. Dr Christoph Teller. ‘It's high time to pay more attention to this topic,’ adds study director Dr Kathrin Mayr, ’because although Austria is still in the middle of the pack in terms of online shopping in a European comparison, these developments could also become a reality in this country.'