High Expectations
UK online consumers are arguably the most sophisticated in the world when it comes to delivery expectations. Almost 27 million households packed onto an island, where the maximum distance between major population centres is only 650 miles, means that a signi cant number of carriers and couriers can claim to offer national delivery services, creating a highly competitive environment where retailers and their customers have a wide choice of services. There is a concentration of online orders in London and the South East of England but in order to succeed in the UK a non-UK retailer will need to offer a fully national delivery solution.
UK consumers are also highly attractive to non-UK retailers with a high per capita online spend and a con dence in online retailing which means they are fully prepared to look outside of the UK to buy the products they want if the price, quality etc. are right. The latest IMRG Blackbay UK Consumer Home Delivery Survey confirms that almost 65% of respondents have shopped cross-border but that when making that decision it is still delivery and returns issues that create the biggest concerns.
So when dealing with UK online shoppers it is important to get the logistics offer right and just as important to communicate this offer clearly and frequently through the buying process – two-thirds of UK consumers feel that access to clear delivery and returns information, before they start to shop, is important in making their shopping experience more convenient. [1]
Infrastructure
A non-UK retailer wishing to deliver to UK consumers at home has a number of service providers to consider. The first of these is of course the UK postal service, Royal Mail which provides the ability to reach every home, every day with a number of service options. Royal Mail works alongside its sister company, Parcelforce to offer delivery services through most weight ranges and with its now commercial partner, the Post Office to provide collection and returns services available to non-UK retailers. The delivery lead time will of course depend on the destination and how long it takes to enter Royal Mail’s UK network. From arrival, the delivery levels are:
- 1-day delivery with signed and unsigned for options
- 2 to 3-day delivery with signed and unsigned for options
In addition to the postal options, retailers in most countries will have access to the major global carriers, namely:
UPS – Subject to the point of origin, UPS uses a suite of services – UPS Standard, UPS Express Saver, UPS Express and UPS Express Plus to offer a delivery range typically between 5 days and 1 day with pre 12:00 and 09:00 options.
FedEx – Dependent on the exact delivery location FedEx typically offers 1 to 3-day delivery options from the US using its ‘International First’ and ‘International Priority’ options. From other destinations, delivery times are typically 2 to 5 days (International Economy) or up to 7 days (International Ground).
DHL – DHL’s standard offer for deliveries into the UK is DHL Express Worldwide which offers ‘delivery by the next possible working day’ which is a little vague and each country will have its own lead times. From some markets it will offer pre 09:00, 10:30 and 12:00 options.
DPD – DPD offers cross-border delivery services to the UK from 35 countries, mostly within Europe. DPD Classic offers Europe to UK in 1 to 4 days. DPD Guarantee is available from 14 European countries providing a money back, specified day delivery option and DPD Express extends this to next day delivery with pre 08:30, 10:00 and 12:00 options.
Hermes Europe – Hermes-Europe offers cross-border delivery services to the UK from Germany, Austria, Italy (and France as part of the Mondial Relay network). Upon arrival in the UK Hermes Standard Service offers direct coverage to 99.5% of UK addresses with a 2-day delivery to most locations. Deliveries are made Monday to Saturday but a Sunday delivery option is also available. There is also a Next Day option to 98% of the UK for Tuesday to Saturday delivery again with the Sunday option available.
When sending goods from outside the UK, Royal Mail services are accessed through either the postal authority in the originating country or a commercial service partner. Most notable of these are the companies that are part of the GLS (General Logistics Systems) network, covering 37 countries across Europe. Transit times and service options to the UK will depend on the country of dispatch and the service range offered by the selected carrier. GLS estimates that for parcel shipments, deliveries to the UK will be made between 24 hours and 96 hours from dispatch dependent on where they are sent from.
The other carriers mentioned above will provide their own branded access options in each of the countries they serve which are fully integrated with their UK operations. Senders looking for a more managed carrier solution can look to integration specialists who will provide the interface with a range of carriers and services. This will generally include the production of the right labels (and where necessary, customs documentation) for each carrier and service the sender wishes to use and data exchange including any pre-advice and tracking information.
Providing carrier integration within the UK market are companies like Electio, GFS and MetaPack. MetaPack in particular provides carrier management and integration across 200 countries including into the UK where it can access all of the postal and global carrier solutions already mentioned plus the wider range of UK domestic carriers including Yodel, DX, TNT and UK Mail. [2]
Customer experience
Price, demand and a lack of availability with UK retailers are cited as the key drivers behind shoppers venturing to international retailers with many being unconcerned about where a retailer is based, as long as they’re selling the right product at the right price. A significant number of cross-border purchases are made via marketplace sites such as eBay and Amazon suggesting consumers mainly head to international retailers when the product they’re after is niche. However, price and choice aside, delivery and returns are very important to UK consumers and has now become an important factor, differentiating retailers they will and will not shop with. In order to win customers non-UK retailers should appreciate that 70% of UK consumers positively con rm that a good delivery experience will encourage them to return and shop again with the retailer providing it.
When it comes to delivery location UK consumers still overwhelmingly want delivery to home with in excess of 80% consistently giving this as their top preference. However, home delivery needs to work efficiently.
Between two thirds and three quarters of UK consumers rank this speci c option as important in making their delivery experience more convenient
- Safe-place delivery – Providing the customer the option to give safe-place delivery instructions can avoid a missed delivery and the need for a repeated delivery.
- Neighbour delivery – Providing the customer the option to select a neighbour to accept goods on their behalf can avoid a missed delivery and the need for a repeated delivery. This option has increased in use especially since Royal Mail has been given the regulatory freedom to offer to delivery to a speci ed neighbour.
Despite the preference for home delivery, over the past five years click & collect has been gaining in popularity. This is where the customer can choose to collect their online order from the retailer’s own store, a parcel-shop or a locker bank at a time and place to suit them. Awareness of this option is now very high with 98% of UK consumers and with three quarters having used it or intending to use it in the future. Non-UK retailers should actively look at their ability to access local parcel-shop or locker networks because up to 35% of UK shoppers have used this option which is also popular for returning unwanted orders. This also provides an element of brand association. If the shopper knows and trusts the click & collect provider, that trust extends to an overseas retailer. [3]
Returns
A very important element for any retailer’s offer to UK consumers must be the ability to accept returns and make the returns and refund / replacement process convenient. When surveyed, 60% of UK consumers stated that the ability to return unwanted orders and get a credit was a concern and potential barrier for them shopping with a non-UK retailer. For non-UK retailers unable to offer their own stores for the customer to return to, the most used option is Post Offices, using Royal Mail or Parcelforce to provide the logistics link to the local postal administration. Royal Mail is a leading participant in the recently developed IPC (International Post Corporation) Common Return Platform which allows the seller to provide the consumer with an internationally accepted, pre-paid label. With the UK and Royal Mail as one of the original participating countries, the service is now available from nine other markets.
In addition to Post Offices for accepting returns, non-UK retailers may also have access to the click & collect networks and collection from home services offered by global carriers, which then integrate with their corresponding returns distribution services. As with deliveries there is also the option to use a managed solution through a ‘returns portal’. This is a website (which may have the option to be integrated into the retailer’s website) which the consumer is asked to visit when making a return. This can identify the product, the reason for the return etc. and give the consumer returns options best suited to that situation. Labels and instructions are then provided and once again some click& collect networks may be available. Providers of such returns portals, serving the UK market include RoyalMail, MetaPack, wnDirect and ReBound. When sufficient volumes of orders (and returns) are being generated, another option for dealing with returns is to arrange for them to be consolidated and managed ‘in country’. When selecting the delivery solution, a non-UK retailer should consider in parallel the returns solution. [4]