Royal Mail this week launched an improved and extended range of tracked services to smallerretailers, which it claimed would help improve the delivery experience for customers.
More than 1,500 retailers are currently registered to use Royal Mail Tracked, a low-cost,two-day delivery service that tracks a parcel’s progress at every stage from the retailer’swarehouse to the customer’s doorstep, with confirmation of the successful delivery of an itemwithin 15 minutes.
The re-launched product now gives smaller e-tailers and catalogue companies the option to chooseto send delivery updates to consumers by text or e-mail. The additional service options, which alsoinclude signature on delivery, management reports available to retailers to help them manage callhandling, and a 15kg weight limit, were rolled out to large-volume retailers earlier this year.
Royal Mail has also launched its Tracked Next Day product for large and smaller volume retailerswho want to offer their shoppers an even quicker delivery. It developed the improved service tofill a gap in its product range, after arming its 35,000 delivery postmen and women with newhand-held devices to track packets and parcels to the doorstep.
To make it easier for smaller retailers to take advantage of the improved tracked services,Royal Mail has also developed a new despatch management system, Despatch Manager Online, whichenables account customers to quickly set up and produce bar-coded parcel labels online.
Gary Winter, head of goods fulfilment at Royal Mail, said: “Royal Mail is determined to investto maintain and increase our share of the growing online retailing sector by extending our range oftracked services to our small and medium-sized customers. Royal Mail Tracked has plugged a gap inour service portfolio and is essential in building our reputation as the specialist deliverypartner of choice.”
He added: “The delivery of goods ordered online is a tremendous growth opportunity and we willcontinue to develop services, like Royal Mail Tracked, which deliver real impact and results tobusinesses and greater flexibility and certainty for consumers. Not only does Royal Mail Trackeddeliver 98% of parcels within two days, it also enables consumers to check the progress of theirorder online so that they can plan for their delivery. This helps reduce the number of faileddeliveries because no one was at home to receive the item, improving shopper satisfaction andreducing customer service costs for the retailer.”
Part of several initiatives by Royal Mail to support the online and catalogue retailing sector,the firm is currently also extending the opening times of more than 600 of its busiest deliveryoffices until 8pm on a Wednesday to make it even easier for people to receive items that could notbe delivered during the day because no-one was at home.
The minimum volume threshold for Royal Mail Tracked is 2,000 parcels a year, and for TrackedNext Day is 5,000 parcels a year.
