Royal Mail has won a prestigious contract to deliver orders for online fashion giant ASOS while Hermes UK has walked off with an extended deal to deliver Clark’s shoes across the country.
The British postal group said it has been awarded a new contract to deliver customer orders for ASOS and has also extended its capacity to handle the brand’s customer returns by 25%. The new contract and extension of the existing relationship were driven by its ability to handle significant increases in volume during peak periods.
ASOS has used Royal Mail to carry its customer returns since it first launched in 2000, and earlier this year ASOS became one of the first businesses to use Royal Mail’s Tracked Returns service.
Royal Mail currently handles around 75% of ASOS customer returns. With the extension of the contract, Royal Mail is increasing its capacity by one million items so the network can carry up to five million customer return parcels per year.
Returns are increasingly a point of differentiation for online shoppers. Royal Mail research has found that seven in ten (72%) of UK shoppers would be unlikely to shop with a retailer again if they had a difficult returns experience.
ASOS offers free returns to all UK customers and is constantly innovating to make returns faster, more effective and easier for shoppers. By selecting Royal Mail, ASOS customers can complete their returns through 11,500 Post Office outlets, the largest network of any of the ASOS return options.
Nick Landon, Managing Director Royal Mail Parcels, said: “Royal Mail is committed to supporting the growth of e-commerce in the UK by continually developing and improving the services we offer to retailers and their customers. We are delighted to have extended this important relationship with ASOS. Over the last 15 years, we have supported the ASOS brand promise, provided additional capacity to support their growth and now, with continued innovation, we are giving more control to ASOS and its customers.”
Meanwhile, Hermes UK will continue providing delivery services for Clark, the international shoe manufacturer and retailer, after securing a two-year contract extension. Under the agreement, Hermes will continue to provide both next-day delivery and a 3-5 day standard delivery service for the online orders of all Clarks’ consumers based in the UK.
Hermes expects to handle around 1.6 million parcels for Clarks during 2015 and anticipates that volumes will increase further over the course of the next two years. Looking ahead to the peak Christmas season, Hermes said it is closely working with Clarks to prepare for the busy holiday period by “analysing forecasted volumes and confirming collection schedules”.
Mark Pettit, Sales and Marketing Director at Hermes, said: “Clarks is one of the most recognisable names on the high street and is a business that is steeped in history. We look forward to supporting this iconic retailer as it continues to develop its online proposition. Meanwhile, we continue to significantly invest in our infrastructure and technology to ensure we can operate a highly efficient service at all times.”
Peter Scraton, Clarks Group Logistics Director, commented: “We have been delighted with the way Hermes has worked with us on innovative solutions and service improvements for our customers. These are exciting and challenging times in the digital world we look forward to continuing our partnership into the future.”
