'Tight timings hike up delivery costs' ­ study

Delivering to people’s homes within very tight time windows can account for up to 38 per cent of total home delivery transport costs, according to a study by Paragon Software Systems and drop-box newcomer Inboxout.

Paragon ran a modelling exercise with its routing and scheduling software on typical home delivery runs in the London area, varying the delivery timing for individual drop points from “open” to highly restrictive, and found that the tighter timings increased costs significantly.

The company is suggesting that the findings might persuade e-tailers to resist consumer calls for increasingly specific delivery times, and opt instead for alternative solutions such as drop-boxes.