Consignia aims to improve e-commerce delivery

Delivery has been a problem for e-commerce in the past, but Consignia’s new services aim to improve the experience for buyers and sellers

Gift and grocery delivery may be easier this Christmas, thanks to expanding schemes from Consignia, the new brand name for the Post Office. Non-delivery and late arrival of goods ordered online has been a major problem in the past two years, but services from Consignia could improve matters for some buyers and sellers.

Local collection services, which started in five areas three months ago, are now available across the whole of the country. Local collection allows items to be picked up from the recipient’s nearest post office. About 2,000 items a day are now collected locally and over 110 sites offer the service free, Consignia said.

Evening deliveries are also increasing, even though the window for delivery has been reduced to the hours of 6pm to 9pm rather than 5pm to 9pm. Consignia said there was little demand for the earlier time. Consumer electronics giant Dixons will begin offering the service before Christmas.

Finally, Consignia is extending delivery options through its ‘drop box’ trials where goods are deposited in various types of secure cases for collection by recipients.

Consignia said it was finding that different formats and levels of security are suitable for different environments, depending on types of home or public location, such as train stations. “The feedback has been very good,” said Nigel Moore, marketing director of home shopping at Consignia. “There may be more than one solution.”