In the pages of IT Week I regularly report on the latest and greatest web-related products and services, and for the most part it is pretty impressive. In the e-commerce world we cover everything from flashy site design using the latest Ajax technology to improve the user experience, to real-time performance monitoring, analytics and search optimisation techniques. And at the cutting edge many e-retailers have really got it together, revenues continue to soar and industry body the IMRG produces ever-more impressive stats month-by-month to show the inexorable rise of online shopping. But there is a problem; if you have a full-time job, and your purchase won't fit through the letter box, you're screwed.

Like most consumers nowadays I am vendor agnostic when it comes to online shopping, just give me the cheapest one, which I find first through Google and then a price comparison site. Having narrowed down my choices for TVs under £200 I came to Duck.co.uk, submitted my payment details and waited. And waited. And then went on holiday for a few days. When I returned, the delivery man had beaten me to it and left the requisite calling card; the TV had been left miles away at the "nearest" depot in Charlton. Any attempts to secure redelivery were thwarted by the firm's inability to narrow down a time between 9 and 6, when most normal people are at work, and the automated booking system which asked me "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" five times before I disconnected the phone and threw it out of the window.

When I reconnected the phone and finally got through to a human being, or something resembling one, I was told the TV could be redelivered to a local Costcutters down the road for 50p. Bizarre as this sounded, mine was not to question why. Then the next day some geezer called me back and said this would actually cost £5.70, and would I prefer delivery to a local Post Office instead, the nearest of which is half a mile away…

The moral of this tale, and there is one, believe me, is that online retailers need to get their act together with delivery systems. If most online customers now value the shopping experience above all else (apart from price), as we're so often told, then this final piece in the purchasing jigsaw is vitally important, but sorely missing with many firms. The IMRG is trying to rectify this situation with its Internet Delivery is Safe kitemark, which denotes retailers who meet the requisite standards including offering convenient delivery options and delivery within the agreed time frame. But only when consumers start voting with their feet will e-retailers get the message. Right, I'm off to find a shopping trolley I can wheel to the Post Office.