With the staggering growth in home shopping via the internet there is considerable interest in how e-retail goods purchased are subsequently handled and delivered to consumer’s home addresses. This survey will not only be of interest to carriers and shippers but also to fulfilment companies and other organisations interested in accessing this aspect of the e-commerce sector, such as IT suppliers for example.
The survey’s methodology was based on the long established (over 20 years) Triangle Domestic B2B Parcels Distribution Survey but with many questions focussed specifically on user’s experiences of parcel carriers performance in the fast growing B2C delivery sector. The survey was based on 300 interviews with shippers despatching 100+ parcels a month to home addresses in the weight range ½ kg to 30 kg requiring a delivery next day or within 2/3 days.
The 115-page report establishes user perceptions for a number of carrier ratings and descriptors both for the home delivery specialist operators and those largely B2B orientated express parcel carriers now extending their reach into the B2C sector. Although the survey specifically excluded Royal Mail’s packet deliveries, their Special Delivery Service was included.
Issues such as the offer of an alternative delivery location, the collection and notification of returns and the use of, and reasons for employing, specialist fulfilment houses are examples of specific issues relating to home deliveries that are addressed in the report. One of the principal features of this unique survey is the benchmarking of carriers by their users so that not only can the operators see their relative performances in easy to read benchmark charts but in addition shippers can utilise the information in sourcing or reviewing their service provider.
DHL Express received the highest spontaneous awareness rating followed closely by Parcelforce Worldwide and City Link, however in terms of usage there were 15 individual service providers named by the shippers, and benchmarked in the survey. “The results showed a wide variance in customer’s perception of the various home delivery carriers they have used which probably reflects a growing awareness of the rather more specific needs of the B2Cdelivery sector as compared to the more traditional B2B commercial activity” commented Robin Parr-Davies, Triangle’s Express Director. “It is clear that user’s needs are not always being met in this fast growing sector” he continued “the home delivery market is becoming recognised as an important growth sector, requiring particular services and attention by the operators and this report will be of interest to a wide spectrum of organisations with interests in the e-retail sector”.
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 focus primarily on the mail and express industry sectors.
