Home or parcel machine? It’s been revealed how Hungarians order and what they fear most about delivery

In domestic e-commerce, the “last mile”, i.e. the quality and speed of the final phase, has become the main battlefield. MediaMarkt’s recent, representative research has shown that Hungarian customers are increasingly aware and impatient when it comes to their ordered packages. For this reason, a higher percentage prefer personal collection for more expensive products, while a total of 76% of respondents prefer home delivery or parcel machine collection on other occasions.

Women are looking for convenience, men for flexibility

The research clearly shows gender and generational differences. More than half of women (50.5%) prefer home delivery, as for them the most important aspect when purchasing is convenience after price. In contrast, men choose parcel machines in a much higher proportion (42.8%), with flexibility, i.e. control over their own time schedule, being the decisive factor.

The generational and regional divide also opens up: while the 16-29 age group overwhelmingly prefers parcel machines (47%), those over 60 (56%) and those living in villages (62%) consistently trust courier home delivery.

“There is a tough battle on the market for time and the attention of customers. We can see from the research data that the demands are divided: one side demands complete convenience, the other immediate, flexible collection”

– said Bakonyi Pál, MediaMarkt’s Hungarian Logistics Manager.

“That’s why we raised the stakes and recently launched nationwide 24-hour home delivery for in-stock, small-to-medium-sized products. At the warehouse level, we extended the shift until 10 p.m., so the customer can receive their order placed at 9 p.m. within one business day or pick it up from a vending machine.”

Damage is the most annoying, but we would pay for accuracy

When delivering online orders, the most annoying factor for Hungarian customers is clearly when the product or packaging arrives damaged (55.6%). It is no coincidence that when purchasing high-value technical items (e.g. over 200,000 HUF), more than a third of respondents prefer to go to the store in person.

Waiting all day for the courier is also a critical point: for nearly 84 percent of respondents, it is of utmost importance that the delivery time (e.g. a 2-hour time slot) can be planned precisely. Customers would be willing to pay a premium for quality logistics, or for example, for the professional installation of the new device (15.7%).

“The proportion of pick-up products ordered online but received in-store has jumped enormously, and today this is the top priority in our warehouse every morning. This dual pressure – online and in-store – can only be served with a perfectly tuned omnichannel model. In addition, we are working in almost fully integrated systems with our partners for large-scale deliveries, and the time will soon come when our online customers will also be able to choose from narrow, two-hour delivery slots for complete convenience”

– added Pál Bakonyi.

The green paradox and the future of e-commerce

Hungarian customers are open to innovations: more than half of those surveyed (52.5%) would be happy to try or entrust their packages to solutions without human intervention, such as self-driving robots or drones.

Although nearly 60 percent of respondents say that environmental awareness is important to them when sending packages, the “green paradox” appears at the moment of decision. When the primary decision criterion has to be chosen alongside convenience, speed and price, only 3 percent of Hungarians are willing to put sustainability first.