Cut price home delivery means more sales
The UK Home Delivery and Fulfilment 2006 report finds that delivery cost is the biggest gripe among consumers, with one in five saying these are too high. Consumers would use home delivery more if it was cheaper, the report says.
Growth in the UK’s £37bn home delivery sector hit just 3.2% in 2005, almost half the 5.6% growth in 2004.
Mail order home delivery sales have tumbled by £585m from 2002. While online ordering grew by £1.8bn in 2005, it has not helped the home delivery markers cause.
Nick Gladding, the report’s author, recommends that making home delivery seem more affordable is a key solution to drive up sales.
“One of the barriers consumers listed for using home delivery was the price. The evidence suggests that retailers that have made an effort to lower prices on home delivery have seen big gains. Free home delivery is something to aim for but it’s not always practical.” he says.
Parcels operators at the UK Express Delivery Conference in Birmingham this week were unimpressed.
Jonathan Smith, managing director of Amtrak, stressed the importance of getting the right price for delivery, noting that “in real terms, the prices parcel companies are getting for movement are the same as they were eight years ago.”
Matthew Robertson, project director of TNT UK’s new B2C division, TNT Post, did not anticipate a trend towards free delivery: “I don’t think you will see that in a number of providers,” he told us.
A spokesperson for e-tailer Firebox.com told Motor Transport that the company already subsidised its delivery costs to account for a standard £3.95 charge.
