Wholesalers have reported increasing instances of retailers failing to pay for their orders upon delivery, as economic pressures and a poor summer have hit shop sales.

One person working at a delivered wholesaler, who asked not to be named, told Better Retailing they were facing more costs due to having to re-attempt deliveries on multiple occasions.

They said: “We have reports on success and failures of deliveries, and this includes whether they have cancelled an order or have failed to pay for it when it is delivered.

“We’ve found there have been more customers who haven’t got the cash and have asked for us to come another time. You’d be surprised at how many there are now. It’s creating cost for us because we must cover the mileage, the delivery driver’s wages, and the emptying and reloading of the lorry again.”

Another firm, which had similar issues with retailers, added that the issues varied depending on the week and they had adjusted delivery schedules to accommodate for the issues.

“There’s more likelihood of retailers paying at the end of the week because they’ve done all their banking at this point,” they said.

“Aged debt is an issue and we’ve got a lot of customers who have closed. You can see they’re struggling. Lots of customers have not had a good summer.”