DHL research finds 77% of Asia‑Pacific shoppers will abandon carts when their preferred delivery option is unavailable, reframing fulfilment from a back‑office cost into a front‑line commercial priority and forcing retailers to invest in choice, transparency and localised last‑mile solutions.
A DHL study published in June 2025 has put a single operational fault at the centre of Asia‑Pacific e‑commerce’s conversion crisis: delivery. According to the company’s e‑commerce trends research, some 77% of shoppers in the region will abandon their online carts when their preferred delivery option is unavailable — a finding that reframes fulfilment from a back‑office cost to a front‑line commercial imperative.
The report, which DHL says is based on responses from tens of thousands of consumers across multiple markets, also finds that 65% of shoppers will avoid a store after a poor delivery experience and that 55% expect real‑time tracking as standard. Those headline statistics echo concerns raised by other industry studies and point to two separate but linked problems: the rising expectation for delivery choice and transparency, and the persistent operational difficulty of meeting those expectations across a highly varied region.
Why delivery is now a deal‑breaker
Online shoppers in APAC increasingly treat delivery options — speed, scheduling, pick‑up modes and sustainability credentials — as decisive purchase criteria. When preferred options are absent or poorly explained at checkout, consumers leave. That abandonment dynamic is compounded by a second, long‑standing friction point: unexpected costs. Research summarised by eMarketer, drawing on Baymard Institute work, shows that nearly half of consumers will abandon at checkout when additional fees for shipping, taxes or handling appear late in the process. In short, delivery is both an experiential and a transactional trigger for lost sales.
Regional infrastructure and the last mile exacerbate the problem. The Google‑commissioned e‑Conomy Southeast Asia report has repeatedly warned that rapid digital adoption in the region has not been matched by even logistics capacity: archipelagos, remote districts and patchy rural networks make last‑mile fulfilment costly and unreliable. Freight and logistics specialists from across the industry — including FedEx in its APAC business insights — point to the same operational realities: urban congestion, island geographies and dispersed populations mean that offering uniform delivery services across markets is technically and economically challenging.
The commercial cost
The consequences are tangible. Brands spend heavily on acquisition — search, social and influencer channels — only to see conversion erode at the point of fulfilment. Poor delivery harms immediate sales, reduces repeat purchase intent and raises customer‑service and return costs. Ipsos’s market analysis reinforces this: delivery performance is a major driver of repurchase behaviour, and failed or late deliveries significantly damage brand loyalty.
What retailers can do
DHL’s recommendation is clear: treat logistics and returns as core elements of the customer experience rather than ancillary functions. The company urges greater transparency at checkout, multi‑option delivery strategies and improved returns management to protect conversion and lifetime value. Those prescriptions find support in other industry guidance.
Practical measures that have emerged from multiple sources include:
- Expanding delivery choice to match local preferences, from same‑day and next‑day fulfilment in urban centres to cash‑on‑delivery and locker pick‑up in markets where these options matter.
- Displaying all delivery costs and expected arrival times early in the purchase flow to prevent late‑stage abandonment. Industry research shows clear pricing and timelines materially increase checkout completion.
- Strengthening local and hyperlocal partnerships to improve coverage and reliability. The Google e‑Conomy and FedEx analyses both recommend micro‑fulfilment centres, last‑mile partners such as bike couriers and parcel lockers to lower failed deliveries and delivery costs in non‑metro areas.
- Investing in visibility: end‑to‑end tracking and delivery windows are increasingly table stakes for customers, and transparency helps preserve trust when problems arise.
- Using data and AI judiciously to predict demand, optimise inventory placement and dynamically offer delivery promises the business can actually keep. DHL’s report highlights AI and social commerce as changing how consumers discover and expect to receive goods; predictive logistics can align fulfilment capability with those expectations.
- Balancing cost and sustainability: consumers are asking for greener delivery options, but greener choices can carry a price. Retailers must be explicit about trade‑offs and avoid hiding environmental costs behind vague service promises.
Trade‑offs and the road ahead
Offering more delivery options is not costless. Wider choice increases operational complexity and can erode margins if not carefully designed. The most successful approaches seen in the region combine smarter inventory localisation, selective free‑shipping thresholds and transparent pricing that lets customers self‑select between speed, cost and green options. In markets where last‑mile coverage is weakest, collaboration with local carriers and investment in micro‑fulfilment appear to offer the best path to reduce abandonment without unsustainable subsidy models.
For retailers, the message is unequivocal: digital front ends and marketing funnels will only deliver value if they are matched by fulfilment systems that can meet modern expectations. As DHL’s June 2025 research and multiple industry analyses show, delivery is no longer an afterthought – it is a conversion lever. Fixing it will demand operational investment, clearer communication to buyers and closer partnership across the logistics ecosystem; for many sellers in APAC, that work will determine whether customer acquisition spends convert into real, repeatable revenue.
Source: Noah Wire Services
Subscribe to Industry Updates
