2 December 2004

Loyalty high in the fiercely contested UK international express market

Triangle’s UK survey of international express users suggests that although the market is dominated by a small group of major global companies there is a strong proliferation of smaller niche operators providing competitive services. There are also a number of more domestically focussed express operators coming to the international market with a range of international services as value added products.

This is the first year of Triangle's customer survey in the international express outbound sector and builds on Triangle’s experience with its long running UK Domestic Parcels Survey and its UK Pallet Distribution Survey both of which are now seen as important annual inputs to carrier’s strategic planning processes. The new UK international express survey, which will be an annual monitor, consists of in depth telephone interviews with some 300 customers despatching international express outbound shipments either by European road express or international air courier services.

The survey suggests that the level of brand loyalty is high with at least half of respondents (customers) having used their main international express outbound carrier for more than 5 years and a low number considering changing or adding carriers.

Of those international express operators that mentioned any specific service improvements, most frequently cited issues were pro-active problem notification, tracking facilities, later collection and telephone response. Call centres were mentioned as one of the most irritable aspect of an international express carrier’s service.

The survey showed some evidence of price hardening in both the road express and the air courier segment of the UK international express market. Price was also seen by respondents as the most important selection criterion in the international express market.

The ability to provide a good domestic express collection and delivery network also proved to be of importance as nearly two thirds of the survey’s respondents claimed that a domestic service was a main reason for selecting a carrier for their international express shipments.

This new UK International Express survey joins a growing list of similar annual surveys from Triangle which, apart from the UK Domestic Parcels and Pallet sectors also includes one for the French Express sector, the Spanish express market and the German express and parcels sectors. Triangle is now planning similar studies for Italy and Benelux.

For more information contact Robin Parr-Davies on 00 44 (0) 8709 507900 or by email: Robinp@triangle.eu.com

Notes to editor:

• The Triangle report: The UK International Outbound Express Survey is based on the long established (18 years) UK Domestic Parcels Distribution Survey. It is a major industry customer satisfaction survey of 300 + users of international express carriers that allows carriers to benchmark their own performances against that of their direct competitors and enables them to (for example) measure the effectiveness of their marketing and customer service strategies. This 110 page report is required reading for the UK international express industry and is available for purchase at a cost of £11,000 + VAT.

Triangle Contacts:

Robin Parr-Davies
Email: Robinp@triangle.eu.com

Tel: +44 (0)870 950 7900
Fax: +44 (0)870 950 7910 8