Technology, systems, logistics, fulfilment, fraud, payments and more
The UK’s online retailers will send a billion parcels for the first time in 2015, a new study estimates. IMRG and MetaPack predict in this week’s IMPRG MetaPack UK Delivery Index that the milestone will be breached. In January, the index found, volumes from online retail orders grew by 9.5% (more…)
Office Depot says its online conversion rates have improved by 3% following the introduction of personalisation technology. The office supplies retailer predicts a £2.5m rise in annual revenues as a result of the rise. The boost to conversion rates, which came after it implemented a personalisation strategy using Monetate’s platform, (more…)
Fat Face says it responded to customer behaviour when it introduced a responsive, cloud-based ecommerce platform. The growth in the number of visitors coming to its site via mobile drove the fashion retailer’s decision to opt for a NetSuite platform. The platform will also underpin a new US site planned (more…)
John Lewis is opening a new distribution centre as it strengthens its logistics network to support improvements in its omnichannel delivery services. John Lewis will handle large furniture, electricals and home furnishing deliveries through the 638,000 sq ft warehouse in Milton Keynes, on which it has signed a 25 year (more…)
Ocado is to open a fourth distribution centre, the retailer said this week. The new customer fulfilment centre, in Erith, South West London, is expected to open in 2017 after fit-out starts in 2016, the company said in a brief statement. The project, which has yet to win planning permission, (more…)
Parcelforce Worldwide has moved to make its delivery services more responsive to the needs of online shoppers. The company has launched Parcelforce Select, aimed at eretailers and their customers. Customers will be able to choose up to the day of delivery where that delivery will be made, whether that’s at (more…)
Yodel has spoken of the game-changing effect Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2014 had on its business, when it was called on to deliver 40% more parcels than at the same time last year. It says retailers and carriers alike must now learn lessons ahead of Christmas 2015, including the (more…)
Parcel delivery company DPD is to open its own parcel shop network in June, rivalling competitors including myHermes, Collect+ and UPS Access Points. DPD plans to establish its own network of 2,500 outlets, promising a DPD PickUp point within ten minutes of most people in the UK. It has named (more…)
John Lewis said earlier this week that in 2014, a successful Christmas depended on getting the logistics right. Today we hear from the companies that mapped demand on how that evolved in practice this year. Christmas 2014 was always expected to be a busy one for delivery companies. Etail association (more…)
The changing shape of Christmas shopping has brought the importance of retail logistics to the fore, says John Lewis managing director Andy Street. John Lewis reports today that click and collect was its shoppers’ delivery method of choice over the Christmas period, with 56% of online orders collected in stores. (more…)
Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions led to an “online tsunami” of ecommerce orders fuelled by pent-up consumer demand, according to new research from the IMRG and MetaPack. Lessons, it predicts, will be learned ahead of next year. The November 2014 IMRG MetaPack Delivery Index confirmed that the Christmas delivery (more…)
Sainsbury’s says this will be its biggest Christmas yet for online orders. It says more than 30% more food orders have been placed over the internet for the week leading up to the big day. As a result it’s preparing to deliver more than 100,000 orders in the three days (more…)
Amazon has once again raised the bar for fast delivery. New York shoppers can now take possession of their Amazon purchases in little over an hour. The retailer introduced its Prime Now quick delivery service in Manhattan on Thursday, with superfast fulfillment made possible through the use of bike couriers. (more…)
It may be nine days before Christmas but, online, many sales are now in full swing. Retail websites from Gap (up to 40% off) to Boden (up to 50% off) , the White Company (up to 40% off) and Fenn Wright Manson (up to 50% off) are all now proclaiming (more…)
Retailers are forecasting fast growth in click and collect in the final run up to Christmas, according to new research. Last year 5.7m people used click and collect in Christmas week; this year 49% more orders will be placed online for in-store pick-up, predicts a Conlumino study commissioned by Barclays’ (more…)
Christmas demand is proving challenging for logistics business Yodel as it struggles to catch up with the sheer volume of orders. Its executive chairman Dick Stead wrote to distribution service centres this week, saying that collections would be halted yesterday and today before restarting on Monday. “This is not a (more…)
Amazon customers can now collect their online orders from 10,500 Post Office branches, in a move that more than doubles the number of pick-up locations offered by the online giant. Shoppers can now choose from more than 16,000 points to collect parcels sent by the UK’s biggest online retailer. The (more…)
InPost has launched its 1,000th UK locker location in the UK – and says it will open its 2,000th next year. The parcel locker service has opened the milestone lockerbank on Harrow Road in Wembley, London, as it scales up ahead of the Christmas shopping period. It says its network is (more…)
Waitrose is trialling temperature-controlled lockers at ten locations around the UK. The supermarket’s click-and-collect grocery orders can already be picked up at automated, temperature-controlled lockers at London Underground stations in Chorleywood and Ickenham. Eight more will launch at sites including further London Underground stations and at Gatwick Airport long stay (more…)
Longacres of Bagshot, Surrey, says it’s the UK’s first garden centre to offer an automated drive-in Click and Collect service. The solution, provided by Collectec, has been introduced in response to a growing number of online orders placed for in-store collection. Customers use an outdoor touchscreen kiosk to check in (more…)