(ECNS) -- Chinese consumers waited an average 2.6 days before receiving goods bought on the country's e-commerce sites last year, said a latest study.
It takes 1.7 days on average for parcels to arrive in Shanghai, the shortest nationwide, while shipments to Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Beijing, Guangdong, Hubei, Anhui and Fujian took less than 2.5 days on average, according to the report jointly released by Cainiao Network, Alibaba Group's logistics affiliate, and the business data center of China Business News.
In contrast, consumers in China's central and western regions waited longer -- about four days on average from placing an order to receiving the goods.
Despite continual rapid growth in the number of parcels sent last year, shipments remained efficient thanks to the widespread use of big data technology and increased investment in hardware by logistics companies, said Shao Zhonglin, an expert at a logistics think-tank.
Although logistics were more efficient in the south than in the north, consumers in the south were pickier about express delivery companies' services and less satisfied than consumers in the north, the report indicated.
Consumers in the west were the most unsatisfied, as they had to wait much longer for parcels to arrive.
The report also said that slow delivery and failure to deliver goods to their homes topped consumer complaints.
Delivery companies should attach more importance to the application of new technology, enhance training of couriers and improve management in order to raise consumer satisfaction, Shao said.
