Royal Mail trials evening delivery service
Royal Mail today launched a trial of evening deliveries in a bid to boost e-commerce success rates. As part of the six month trial, people living within the boundaries of the M25 motorway (that encompasses London) can select an evening delivery option for items they have ordered from participating retailers.
House of Fraser and beauty product specialist L’Occitane are taking part in the project and Royal Mail is talking to other retailers about joining the trial.
Royal Mail is also currently extending the opening times of more than 600 of its busiest delivery offices until 8pm on a Wednesday so people can have more options to pick up their deliveries.
Mike Brown, Royal Mail’s fulfilment director, said: “Royal Mail is continually looking at ways in which we can invest in new services and innovations to help both retailers and shoppers have even greater choice over the delivery of items.”
Although the UK online shopping market continues to grow, with IMRG, the industry association for e-commerce, expecting annual sales of £56bn this year, a recent study by Royal Mail revealed that 58% of people said they would shop more online if there were more flexible delivery options.
Brown added: “Consumers increasingly want more control over when and where they receive their orders and Royal Mail is looking to fit the online delivery experience around the shopper – enabling them to select, rather than being told, when their goods will be delivered.”
Robin Terrell, executive director of multi-channel and international for House of Fraser, said: “One of our key focus areas is providing our customers with the widest choice of convenient and flexible delivery options in the marketplace.
“Royal Mail’s evening delivery initiative fits perfectly with our strategy and allows us to offer our customers living within the M25 yet another option when deciding how they wish to receive their online orders.”
Giving his view on the latest initiative, e-commerce expert David Smith, managing director of IMRG, said that he was pleased “to see that Royal Mail is continuing to investigate ways it can help retailers provide their customers with greater choice and control over delivery, resulting in a more positive online shopping experience.”
The trial enables shoppers at House of Fraser and L’Occitane to ask, at the point of order, for items to be delivered in the evening between 6pm and 10pm.
Despite the move, many retailers feel that Royal Mail has been slow to recognise the importance of e-commerce. Speaking to Post&Parcel, Mark Lewis, CEO of Collect+, said: “Online retailers have shown huge amounts of innovation and willingness to adapt their business models in order to fit in with their customers’ busy lives. For some time now, the traditional delivery services on offer have failed to match the creativity and flexibility of e-retailers.
“If Britain is to succeed as a nation of “digital shopkeepers” we need a more ambitious approach to providing a local out of hours parcel collection and drop off service like Collect+ that is tailored to the needs of the online shopper. Royal Mail is finally making a crucial step towards providing more flexibility, but it needs to show more commitment in order to win back the trust of retailers and customers alike.”
