Royal Mail Enhancing Online Shopping Delivery Experience
- Royal Mail is introducing key enhancements to its tracked services* used by leading UK retailers to deliver items online shoppers have ordered
- The enhancements include e-mail and SMS notifications that specify the address of the neighbour where items have been left when customers are not at home
- Royal Mail research shows 62% of people think it is important to receive updates on the progress of their items throughout its delivery journey**
- An electronic version of the ‘Something for You’ card will enable customers to collect items from Customer Service Points using their mobile devices
- Acceptance scans at Royal Mail Customer Service Points will be available for customers with prepaid, bar-coded items. This includes returns and marketplace sellers dropping off items
Royal Mail is now introducing key enhancements to its tracked services*. They are designed to improve the customer experience for both retailers and online shoppers. Online sales are driving delivery volumes in the UK. Royal Mail saw a 5% growth in its UKPIL parcel volumes in the 2017/18 financial year.
The changes give retailers and their customers more information on the delivery progress of the items they ordered. They are also designed to give greater convenience to recipients by making it easier to locate and pick up undelivered items if they are not at home.
Key service enhancements include:
Delivery to Neighbour enhancements for tracked services*willenable retailers to give online shoppers even more information on the delivery progress of their item. It lets retailers send customers proactive email and SMS notifications confirming when their item(s) have been delivered to a neighbour. Notifications will specify the neighbour’s house number, house name or first line of address if they live in a different street. This will make it even easier for online shoppers to know which neighbour their parcel has been left with if they are not at home at the time of delivery.
Parcel Acceptance at all Royal Mail Customer Service Points will offer earlier acceptance scans. Customers taking pre-paid, barcoded items to Royal Mail Customer Service Points/ Delivery Offices will now be able to obtain an acceptance scan on drop off. This follows the introduction of new scanning technology at Customer Service Points across the UK, offering greater peace of mind. Shoppers will be able to take their pre-paid, barcoded items including returns to the Customer Service Points. As well as giving greater convenience to shoppers, retailers will receive earlier notice about items being returned, enabling them to better manage their inventories.
Electronic “Something For You” notifications will provide online shoppers with email and SMS notifications about their items if they are not at home when the item is delivered.
The notifications will advise when their undelivered parcel has been returned to a Customer Service Point and is ready for collection. The service is available at around 450 of Royal Mail’s largest and busiest Customer Service Points. On receipt of the SMS/email notification, customers can either re-arrange their parcel delivery for another day or collect their item from their local Customer Service Point by presenting the electronic “Something For You” with relevant identification.
The electronic “Something for You” notification will help online shoppers to make collection or redelivery arrangements sooner without having to go home to collect the physical “Something for You” card. The physical card will continue to be posted through letterboxes.
Source: Royal Mail