Descartes: Younger consumers fuel Ecommerce growth, but 79% face delivery issues

Descartes Systems Group released findings from How Smarter Home Delivery Wins Younger Consumers as Online Buying Slows, its fourth annual consumer sentiment study of ecommerce home delivery. The study shows that, in a slower growing ecommerce market, consumers aged 18-35 (“under 35s”) are the biggest contributor to online growth, increasing both the volume and frequency of their purchases over the last 12 months compared to the prior year. While 18% of overall consumers surveyed cut back on purchases during this period, 43% of under 35s increased their spending year-on-year compared to just 32% of over 65s (see Figure 1).

Changes in online purchasing behavior

In addition, this year’s survey found that 44% of under 35s made online purchases at least every two weeks—a significant jump over last year’s 33%. For the younger demographic, however, their levels of dissatisfaction with home delivery remain high with a significant 79% reportedly experiencing delivery problems compared to 66% of overall consumers surveyed.

Moreover, for each delivery problem detailed in the survey, under 35s reported a higher percentage of negative experiences than overall respondents (see Figure 2). Conversely, over 65s reported a lower percentage of negative experiences than all respondents. Not only is the younger demographic the cohort driving growth in online purchasing, it also appears to be the group with the highest expectations for positive delivery experiences.

Issues with home deliveries

“The bottom-line impact of negative delivery experiences remains a pressing concern for retailers and their delivery partners, especially with the pace of ecommerce growth steadying post-pandemic,” said Mavi Silveira, SVP Global Marketing at Descartes. “While small improvements in home delivery performance have been made over the past few years, they’re not currently reflecting the quality experience consumers are demanding, especially the valuable under 35 cohort, as poor delivery experiences risks the potential lifetime customer value of this demographic.”

Descartes and SAPIO Research surveyed 8,000 consumers in Europe and North America on their ecommerce buying behavior during the first three months of 2025. The goal was to gain a comprehensive view of the state of ecommerce and home delivery performance by understanding, for example, the reasons for increases or decreases in ecommerce purchases, the different types of goods purchased, the frequency of purchases, delivery preferences, delivery experiences and the impact of delivery failures on retailers and their delivery agents. The study also examines how consumer behaviors and perceptions vary across demographics.