Tag: Royal Mail

International Direct Marketing Fair

Posted by | Mar 4, 2008 | |

Postcomm is to hold a Post Theatre at this year International Direct Marketing Fair.

With one in five business customers exploring alternatives to mail, many have already moved their mail to other media and Postcomm intends to make the most of the event.

The International Direct Marketing Fair, held at Earls Court, is where strategy makers and decision takers responsible for marketing, direct marketing, data, digital, CRM and research come to find new and more innovative ways to generate a better response to their direct marketing campaigns.

Currently the UKs largest attended exhibition for the direct marketing industry, focus areas will include; helping the environment, electronic substitution, the innovation of hybrid mail and the way that Postcomm, the regulator for postal services, sees the future of the postal market, will be discussed at a series of seminars in London.

The three days of seminars make up a Post Theatre that Postcomm is hosting at this years International Direct Marketing Fair which opens from 29 April 1 May at Earls Court 2, London. Entrance is free.

The liberalisation of the UK postal market has brought about significant changes in the way business postal services are handled. But in parallel with liberalisation, other influences have developed, such as the rise in electronic communication and concerns about the environment.

While electronic communication has led to substitution, digital technology provides further opportunities for innovation in the mails market. Consumer spending on online shopping grew 50 pct last year and all mail operators are seeking innovative ways to fulfill these orders. Hybrid mail is now available: this is an electronic-to-physical service which allows businesses and individuals to send letters electronically from personal computers directly to a print facility near its destination where it is printed, enveloped and delivered locally.

As well as reducing staff time and the need for paper, envelopes and franking machines for the sender, hybrid mail has a reduced carbon footprint compared with traditional delivery networks because it cuts out the need to carry mail over a long distance. Many of the major companies offering hybrid systems will have speakers at the seminar.

Companies entering the liberalised postal market initially targeted large customers, but now we are seeing more special services being offered to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Royal Mail will be explaining its special services aimed at SMEs.

Other topics include choosing the right mail provider, the future of direct marketing, and the views of customers.

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New strike threat is looming for Royal Mail

Posted by | Mar 3, 2008 | |

Royal Mail faces a fresh wave of industrial action, only months after the end of one of the biggest strikes to hit the postal service in years.

The Times has learnt that unions have rejected the postal group’s plan to overhaul its pensions scheme and are poised to ballot nearly 150,000 members over whether they back the plan or not. Last year, postal services were crippled by several days of national strikes in a long-running dispute over pay and working practices.

Royal Mail said a year ago that it intended to close its final-salary scheme to new employees and to raise the retirement age from 60 to 65. It then proposed ending the final-salary scheme for all employees and creating a career average plan, which would be linked to the retail prices index.

When last year’s dispute over pay was settled, Royal Mail agreed to continue talks with the unions over pensions, but they have failed to make progress after nearly four months.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents postal workers, and Unite, which represents postal managers, will start to ballot their members shortly. If, as officials believe, the pension plans are rejected in the ballots, a subsequent strike vote would be virtually certain. The unions are recommending rejection of Royal Mail’s plans.

The threat of fresh strike action comes as Royal Mail is under increasing attack over the shutting of 2,500 post offices. The closures, which are being rolled out regionally, have hit London, sparking growing complaints that profitable, popular offices are being shut. There are also complaints over the consultation period, which lasts only six weeks.

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Report calls for new commercial model for Royal Mail

Posted by | Mar 3, 2008 | |

An independent report has dismissed the often-cited option of ‘structural separation’ for the Royal Mail as the best way to rejuvenate the UK postal market because of the ‘potentially significant and damaging costs’. Instead it recommends a radical new commercial model with two accountable businesses operating independently with distinct targets, objectives and incentives resulting in improved customer choice, service and value for money.

The report was undertaken by David Stubbs of Europe Economics to contribute to the ongoing industry consultations and to review different business models for Royal Mail. In particular the report considers the impact of different options for Royal Mail on the promotion of commercial and customer focus in the mail sector. It was commissioned by UK Mail, one of the leading players in this market.

The new model would introduce a new business unit, Royal Mail Sales which would interface with customers, and would contain all existing retail sales, marketing and product development aspects of Royal Mail. It would operate alongside Royal Mail Network which will be responsible for the operational delivery of postal services and would sell services to Access Customers, Downstream Access providers and Royal Mail Sales on an equal and transparent basis.

The report goes on to state that this model would create “commercial equivalence” for Royal Mail in dealing with all customers which is vital to create a model for a healthy, vibrant and sustainable mail market.

The report also recommends the inclusion of new arrangements whereby competing operators were able to gain access by arrangement with Post Office Ltd to Royal Mail’s network of post offices in offering mail and parcel services to posting and receiving customers.

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Delivery transparency key to good online shopping experience (UK)

Posted by | Mar 3, 2008 | |

Clear information on delivery charges and the ability to track the progress of items ordered are important factors in a good online shopping experience, a Royal Mail study has revealed.

Eight out of ten (84 per cent) of online shoppers expect clear delivery information before they place their order, while 81 per cent want the option to specify a delivery address for their goods and 77 per cent like to be kept updated on the progress of their order.

The study revealed that 19 in 20 online shoppers have abandoned a shopping basket with 37 per cent doing so regularly. More than four in ten people (42 per cent) ended their transaction before check-out because of the delivery charge.

And a good delivery experience comes only second to price in the overall shopping experience and is considered more important than shopping from established websites, well-known brands or having a large range of goods. 94 per cent of people are likely to shop again from an online retailer if they are happy with the delivery of their goods.

Val Walker, Head of Multi-Channel Retail at Royal Mail, said: “With 39 per cent of people now shopping online, and becoming increasingly comfortable with the process, delivery details and options are a primary influence on consumers’ choice of online retailer.

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Union rejects Royal Mail reform (UK)

Posted by | Mar 3, 2008 | |

Unions are holding a consultative ballot after the closure of the company’s own consultation.

They say a strike ballot could follow if the Royal Mail does not improve the pension benefits on offer.

The firm plans to reduce the final salary scheme for new and current members and raise the retirement age.

“Overall the proposal will cost people over 34% in their pensions, one way or another,” said Paul Reuter, an official of the postal managers union Unite.

“If there is no improvement then we shall move to a strike ballot,” he said.

The main features of the company’s plan to cut its long-term pension costs are:

– a career average scheme to replace the current final salary version from 1 April 2008 for existing staff
– the standard retirement age to rise from 60 to 65 in 2010, though only for service after that date
– new recruits to be offered a separate “money purchase” scheme
– staff will continue to contribute 6 pct of salaries a year.

Under a career average scheme, a member’s eventual pension will be related to their salary in each year of their career, rather than to their salary in their final year of employment, thus guaranteeing that most staff will get a smaller pension.

Last autumn postal staff voted to end a series of strikes over their employer’s plans to bring in new working methods as well as the changes to the pension scheme.

However, those proposals required further legal consultation with the staff, which saw 165,000 employees being sent a 44-page booklet outlining the impact of the changes.

At the time the Royal Mail claimed it had “the union’s support for the company’s overall proposed pension reform,” although the unions said at the time that their position had been misrepresented.

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