A Logistics Infrastructure on Par with Europe
The Republic has 2.2 million residential and business addresses and a population of 4.6 million spread across an area of 70,000 sq km and 10 major conurbations. Over a fifth of these consumers reside in Dublin but much of the population lives in rural and semi-rural locations. That said, delivery to these customers presents no significant logistical challenges and fulfillment of online orders has been recently expedited by the introduction of postal codes unique to each address. Most major international carriers service the country while companies like Nightline can integrate both locally and internationally. Click & collect is increasing in popularity as are parcel lockers such as Parcel Motel. Northern Ireland adds another 1.8 million customers to the overall Irish market who, while politically part of the UK, can often be served by the same logistics solutions as in the Republic.
At the beginning of 2016, the World Bank ranked the Republic as 17th for ease of doing business; out of 189 countries. The Republic’s top trading partners are:
- Exports: US (21%), UK (16%), Belgium (14%) and Germany (7%)
- The British Irish Chamber of Commerce estimates trade at €60bn in 2016 – over €1bn per week, and their goal is to see €100bn per annum
- Imports: UK (39%), US (10%), Germany (8.5%) and Netherlands (6%)
The country’s economy is driven largely by foreign direct investment, a well-educated workforce and a government keen to reduce its borrowing deficit. Key industries include technology, financial services, pharmaceuticals, engineering and clean technology. The UK, being the closest country geographically, is a strong trading partner while the influence of global, US technology brands impact the import / export figures. A large proportion of the population live in rural areas, including smaller towns and villages. The capital city, Dublin, is by-far the largest conurbation with over 1 million inhabitants.
Direct delivery tariffs might class shipments bound for the Emerald Isle as ‘International’ but Nightline strive to deliver at UK domestic rates and consumers demand the same level of service offered to their UK counterparts. They want the same breadth of produce, the same convenience, cost and speed of delivery and the same ease in returning unwanted purchases. Our UK retail partners, including the majority of the UK’s top 20 brands, have realised that not being able to offer comparable standards at the checkout increases the prospect of cart abandonment. They have tapped into the appeal of Parcel Motel, our nationwide parcel locker system. A unique proposition in Ireland, it has almost 250,000 regular users – the top 10% of Irish consumers – and is capable of handling low-cost deliveries and returns. Using a ‘Virtual Address’, which is driving rapidly- rising volumes of ecommerce purchases to customers in the Republic through our Belfast depot, retailers have already seen the clear benefits of catering to a consumer audience whose vast appetite is growing at a rate even faster than the UK. Next day delivery throughout Ireland is now a reality for retailers with fulfillment operations in the UK and the overheads for penetrating the Irish market can be further reduced by a direct collection and injection into the Nightline network. The barriers to entering Ireland are coming down. [1]
Infrastructure
Ireland, as an island, consists of two separate but conjoined market opportunities and countries – the Republic of Ireland (‘the Republic’) and Northern Ireland. The Republic has a population of over 4.6 million and a GDP per capita of nearly $49,000 in 2014; the fourth-highest of any member state of the European Union (EU). Most of the population speak English and 30% speak Irish Gaelic. Tourism is a key part of the economy with over 8 million tourists visiting every year; more than double the population of the country. Three international airports and membership of the EU have established the Republic as an active participant in cross-border trade across the EU, Northern Ireland and further afield. The main import markets are the United Kingdom (UK – 39%), United States of America (US – 10%), Germany (8.5%) and Netherlands (6%).
Northern Ireland, while being politically and economically part of the UK, is geographically closer to the Republic, sharing a common border and heritage. While this report focuses on the Republic, cross-border trade is an important way of life for the communities both sides of the border. As such, it is important for any merchant looking to trade into the Republic to understand the differences as well as the opportunities. Where appropriate, specific insight in to the Northern Ireland market will be highlighted, while more in-depth information is available from the UK passport which can be found at ecommerceworldwide.com. For example, Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK to share a physical land border with the EU.
Northern Ireland has a population of over 1.8 million while the provincial capital, Belfast, contains over 330,000 inhabitants. In the Republic, Dublin represents the single largest conurbation and concentration of people in the country. With over 1 million citizens residing in the capital’s region, it o ers merchants the biggest market while the second largest area (Cork) is notably smaller at around 190,000 inhabitants. With a considerable proportion of the population in rural areas, good road links are important and the country is well provided for in this area. [2]
Post
In Northern Ireland, Royal Mail will provide delivery services as part of its UK universal service obligation. In the Republic, using An Post as the final delivery agent, retailers will be able to access services through their own domestic postal providers. From the UK for example, Royal Mail provides the following service options (example – small parcel weighing 500 grams and valued under £50):
- Royal Mail International Tracked and Signed – 3 to 5 days’ delivery – delivery conformation and limited compensation
- Royal Mail International Tracked – 3 to 5 days’ delivery – delivery conformation and limited compensation
- Parcelforce Worldwide irelandexpress – 1 day guaranteed – tracked and higher level compensation
- Parcelforce Worldwide global express – from 1 day guaranteed – tracked and higher level compensation
- Parcelforce Worldwide global priority – 3 days’ delivery – tracked and higher level compensation
- Parcelforce Worldwide global value – 3-5 days’ delivery aim – not tracked but with higher level compensation UK retailers and Republic shoppers buying from UK retailers have some additional options through the postal route (see sections – Direct access and Virtual address).
Global Carriers
There are a number of global carriers able to provide collection, distribution and delivery into Northern Ireland and the Republic (using their own operations or local partners). The main ones are:
UPS – Offers a range of services and delivery times to Ireland subject to country of origin and the specific destination:
- UPS Express Plus – next business day – delivery by 09:00
- UPS Express – next business day – delivery typically by 10:30 noon or by 12:00
- UPS Express Saver – delivery by end of next business day
- UPS Expedited – 2-5 business days – delivery by end of day
- UPS Standard – day de nite by date scheduled – delivery during the day (UK 2 days)
The example service times above are from the UK where all the services are available except UPS Expedited. UPS services are designed for business deliveries and the service times shown are for delivery to business areas. Residential / rural areas may take a little longer and residential delivery services may incur a surcharge. For residential deliveries UPS does offer a click & collect solution, Access Points, where shoppers can collect their orders. However, UPS has yet to extend its network to Ireland. For Northern Ireland services will be similar although UPS will treat this as part of the UK.
Fed Ex Offers two main services to Ireland for ecommerce orders with delivery times subject to country of origin and the specific destination. These are:
- International Priority – typically 2 working days to European cities and 3 working days to other addresses
- International Economy – typically within 5 working days
For Northern Ireland services will be similar although Fed Ex will treat this as part of the UK.
DHL Offers four service options to Ireland:
- Export Express – 09:00 delivery the next possible working day
- Export Express – 12:00 delivery the next possible working day
- Export Express Worldwide – Guaranteed delivery by the end of the next possible working day
- Export Economy Select
For ecommerce deliveries it is likely that the most viable option will be Export Economy Select where, by example, delivery from the UK will be 2 working days. For Northern Ireland services will be similar although DHL will treat this as part of the UK.
TNT Offers international services to Ireland including time and day-de ned, express and economy subject to country of origin and the specific destination. From the UK for example, service options include next-day by 09:00, by 10:00, by 12:00, and close of business. However, the most viable option for ecommerce parcels is likely to be economy express which provides a 2-day delivery from the UK. For Northern Ireland services will be similar although TNT will treat this as part of the UK.
DPD Offers two main international services with transit times dependent on the origin of the shipments:
- DPD Air Classic – typically o ering global delivery in between 3 to 10 days
- DPD Express – typically o ering global delivery in between 2 to 8 days [3]
For Northern Ireland services will be similar although UPS will treat this as part of the UK. Retailers nearer to Ireland, such as in the UK,will have access to more services as DPD treats this destination as an offshore extension to its domestic services (see section – Domestic carriers).
Domestic Carriers
Royal Mail (see section – Post)
Hermes will deliver to Ireland in 3 to 5 days.
Yodel offers a 2-day or 3-day delivery to Ireland.
DPD • 2 days’ delivery to the Republic in general but 12:00, next-day and 2-day options for Dublin • DPD also runs a direct access service – DPD Direct – which can offer delivery in 3 to 4 days (see section – Direct access). [4]
Although UK domestic carriers will treat Northern Ireland as part of the UK, there may be additional time and costs incurred in moving goods from the mainland UK. As a result there may be some extension to delivery times and some carriers may treat Northern Ireland as an ‘exception area’ applying surcharges.
Parcel brokers
Parcel brokers provide smaller retailers with a way of accessing be er pre-contract rates through postal operators, global and domestic carriers and direct access providers. Parcel brokers do not offer all carrier options, only those that choose to contract with them, but in the UK for example companies such as Parcel2Go and Parcel Monkey provide this channel into Ireland using the likes of Nightline, TNT, DPD, Asendia, UPS, Hermes, Parcelforce and others. [5]
Integrators
Retailers with a reasonable volume of orders going to Ireland may wish to consider the option of parcel management service integrators who can provide immediate integration with a wide range of service providers delivering into the Irish market. These will include most of the options above (excluding parcel brokers) and many others. The retailer will need to have or enter into a contract with the delivery service provider but then the integrator will offer the ability to allocate orders to the most appropriate service – using agreed business rules – printing labels and customs documentation, providing tracking and helping to manage returns. For smaller retailers some integrators offer their own parcel broker option that can help obtain be er rates. Providers of such services include MetaPack, ITinSell, Consignor and Electio. [6]