TNT Express UK & Ireland is looking to expand its presence in the B2C and internationalmarkets after concluding it could no longer ignore the high-growth opportunities that they
offer.Managing director Alastair Cochrane told this week’s Mail & Express Delivery Show in Londonthat there had been a number of irreversible changes that had taken place in the parcels andexpress markets in the last four years, and that his company needed to provide an internetinterface that was easier-to-use and more emotionally engaging for customers.
“In the B2B express business in the 1980s and 1990s it was all about time; now it is aboutmaking it easier to transact,” said Cochrane. “The challenge is that it is no longer good enough toprovide a good service. We need to appeal to customers in a different way in this day and age, andappeal to them in an emotional sense, in order to create loyalty.
“Customers are now better informed, more demanding and less loyal. They require greater choiceand more flexibility and we have to continue to innovate to give customers great choice.”
Cochrane said TNT had predominantly focused on the B2B sector in the UK and Ireland, even though12% of its volumes went to residential addresses. But more of a focus was needed in this area. Hedescribed his company’s web offering as “clunky” when compared with the “slick and easy-to-use”websites of internet retailers, with customers now expecting those kinds of interfaces.
“E-commerce and getting into residential is probably the biggest challenge for my business, butwe can’t ignore it any more,” Cochrane acknowledged. “It has significantly changed the rules of thegame, and created a blurring of the lines between what is normally B2B and B2C. There continues tobe double-digit growth and rapid evolution in this area, and the challenge is how to differentiateyourself.”
Cochrane said the high expectations of customers, who wanted “all the bells and whistles” butwere not prepared to pay much for them, combined with the costs of residential deliveries presentedan obvious challenge.
“If we go toe-to-toe with the companies that are already in this space at the moment, all thatis going to do is reduce the value, so we are looking to differentiate ourselves and come in withsomething a little bit new,” he told CEP-Research. “It is not fully there at the moment, but onething we are looking to do is evening deliveries. We have the infrastructure to do daytimedeliveries, but that is a space where there is not so much value to be added.”
He said the last few years had created a lot of new businesses in the UK that had begun toexport, and TNT was keen to get more involved in the opportunities this created. “We have been adomestic-oriented outfit in the UK, and we need to look at utilising the international platformthat we have for the benefit of our customers and ourselves. We see a real opportunity to help ourcustomers through our current or new products.”
He said the company was engaging with the Department for Trade and Industry to see how best tosupport SMEs and remove barriers for developing their export businesses. “There are some greatopportunities to grow, whether with international or in e-commerce,” Cochrane said.
