Spanish domestic express customers have accepted price increases averaging almost 5% in the last year, but they are anxious to reverse that trend over the next 12 months – that’s one of the main findings in the new Spanish Domestic Parcels Distribution Survey recently published by international mail and express consultants Triangle.

Other key areas of concern uncovered by the study are unreliable or late deliveries, lack of advice about such problems and lost or damaged parcels. While improvements in these areas of customer service are urgently needed, the Spanish market does not appear willing to accept any higher prices to pay for them.

Triangle’s express survey was carried out during April/May 2005 and is the first of its kind in Spain, where the market has seen up to 10% growth per annum over the last decade. Based on a study model used annually in France, Germany and the UK, this is an in-depth survey of some 300 medium to large users of domestic express carriers in Spain. It aims to benchmark users’ perceptions of the domestic express carriers they have used in the last year across a range of customer service and delivery characteristics.

Loyalty in a changing market
The large majority of respondents had used more than one carrier in the last year. However, as Robin Parr-Davies, Triangle’s Express Director, points out, “the market showed some element of loyalty as just under half of them said that they would not change carriers even if offered a lower price.”

As with the UK market, Triangle’s survey identified a proliferation of Spanish operators. In Spain, the top ten carriers account for barely 50% of the market, in contrast to the picture in France and Germany, where the express market is much less fragmented. There are signs that much-needed mergers, acquisitions and strategic alliances are growing, and the carriers are also beginning to develop more tailor-made services to appeal to sectors of their customer base. These include guaranteed delivery by a specified time, temperature-controlled shipping and specialist document delivery services.

Copies of the Spanish Domestic Parcels Survey 2005 are available now from Triangle Management Services via their website at www.triangle.eu.com/market_research. Robin Parr-Davies can be contacted by email on robin.parr.davies@triangle.eu.com or by phone on 0870 950 7900.

Notes for Editors:

• Triangle has produced regular domestic parcels surveys for the UK since the late 1980’s. Triangle has recently extended these surveys across Europe with a third edition of the French Express Survey as well as a second German Express and Parcels Survey published in 2005, along with the new Spanish Domestic Express Distribution Survey;

• This is a major industry customer satisfaction survey of 300+ users of express parcels carriers that allows carriers to benchmark their performance against that of their direct competitors and enables them to measure, for example, the effectiveness of their marketing and customer service strategies;

• This 130 page report has become required reading for the industry and is available for purchase directly from Triangle;

• For further information, please contact Robin Parr-Davies at Triangle on +44 (0) 870 950 7900.

Triangle Management Services Ltd, founded in 1984, is today the pre-eminent independent specialist management services company within the global mail, express and logistics sectors. Triangle offers the following services to clients: Recruitment, Market Research, Consultancy, Conferences and Mergers and Acquisitions - all of which are focussed primarily on the mail and express industry sectors.