Snow Valley announces new ‘Golden Chariot’ award

Snow Valley has announced that the publication of their Online Retail Delivery in the UK 2010 report will be marked with a launch party and an award for the retailer with the most impressive delivery service. Now in its fifth year, the Online Retail Delivery in the UK report is the industry authority on the delivery services that UK retailers are providing to their customers.

The report is based on research carried out by Snow Valley during September 2009, when orders were placed on 136 UK online stores. The 70-page report looks at trends that have developed gradually over the past five years and at new initiatives, such as loyalty schemes such as Amazon Prime and same-day delivery.

For the first time Snow Valley will be using the data gathered during the research to identify the retailer that offered the most flexibility and value for money.

The winning retailer will be presented with a ‘Golden Chariot’ award at a launch event to be held on the evening of 20 January. The event will be a celebration of excellence in multi-channel retailing and is being sponsored by Microsoft, Hermes, and CitySprint.

“Some of the retailers that we looked at during our research this year really impressed us,” said Sarah Clelland at Snow Valley. “For example, two retailers managed to deliver on the Monday when we’d only placed the order on the Sunday – and that was on their standard service.

“This is why we’ve created the Golden Chariot award – if we can give the industry a real demonstrable example of a retailer that is doing great things with delivery then it gives us all something to aspire to.”

Jon Tobbell at Hermes said: “It’s really important that carriers and retailers work together to offer the right delivery services that meet customer needs. Snow Valley’s research plays a big part in helping us to understand what’s needed and we’re happy to be part of the launch event.”

Bel Shergill, CitySprint’s retail sector development manager, said: “CitySprint is delighted to sponsor this event. As the UK’s largest privately owned SameDay Courier network and leading provider of retail delivery solutions, we are fully committed to excellence in e-commerce fulfilment and that is exactly what this event, and the Golden Chariot award, is about.”

The event will also mark the official publication of the Online Retail Delivery in the UK 2010 report, which is this year being sponsored by MetaPack. The 70-page report covers 28 areas of the delivery process, such as whether the retailer offered next day, international, or in-store services and how much they charged for delivery.

The report also monitored how well the retailers actually performed when it came to delivering the goods. An anonymous order was placed on each of the 136 UK online stores, allowing the researchers to monitor the delivery process from start to finish.

Patrick Wall, CEO of MetaPack, a sponsor, said; “Having a pivotal role in the home delivery industry we are really pleased to be sponsoring the Online Retail Delivery in the UK Report. The more focus that can be put on the importance of delivery standards, the better for all concerned. The report is an invaluable guide for retailers and suppliers alike that want to understand how the fulfilment of online orders is changing, and we will be releasing a white paper in conjunction to help them interpret and implement the findings to achieve best in class delivery.”