Shipping platform firm Temando's latest annual State of Shipping in Commerce report found that while retailers believed that free and fast delivery are equally valued by consumers, with retailers citing 43 percent and 57 percent respectively, the reality is that 86 percent of U.K. shoppers prefer free shipping.

The report, which surveyed 275 retailers and 1298 online shoppers in the U.K., said 58 percent of shoppers would shop online more if free shipping was offered, while 54 percent would consider increasing their basket size to qualify for free fast delivery in one to three hours.

However, while some retailers (27 percent) indicated that they were responding to customer demands with free standard shipping every day, 32 percent said they offered free shipping with a minimum spend and 11 percent gave free shipping to new customers.

The report added that 58 percent of shoppers would desert their cart and buy from a competitor if a premium day service they were seeking was not provided. Almost a quarter of retailers said they did not use free shipping as a promotional tool.

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