At Everything5pounds.com chief operating officer Robert Kulawik needs to play with small margins but still manage delivery costs. Ahead of his appearance at eDelivery Expo on 21-22 March we caught up with him to find out more about how he makes delivery work as a low priced retailer and where he thinks customer expectations are heading.
ED: You sell fashion for a fiver. Can you tell us a little more about your business model?
RK: “We clear manufacturers, suppliers and retailers from both boutique and high street retailer sectors, debrand, repack, reshoot and offer it our customers at a fixed low price.”
ED: How do you make delivery work as a low priced retailer?
RK: “Our margins are small and we do ask customers to pay a postage and packaging charge. It is dependant on weight/number of parcels in an order.”
ED: What do your customers demand around delivery. Do they have the same expectations as they would of a higher priced retailer?
RK: “Since ecommerce entered our lives a few years back we as a society and customers are all conditioned to expect the best experience as a result of a contract between the vendor and the client at every level. In my opinion, this is a wider issue and a consequence of progress driven competition.”
ED: How do you see the expectations of your customers changing?
RK: “I expect the customer to demand choice and the supply chain to free itself from fixed end points and develop scenarios where everyone will be free to redirect the delivery in real time, whether it is thanks to the use of drones or buddy bundling deliveries in customers’ car boots.”
ED: What challenges do you believe the delivery market faces in the next few years?
RK: “Keeping up with the expectation of the customer that is unaware of supply chain intricacies and expects ultimately flexibility.”
Find out more about Everything5Pounds.com and Robert’s views around delivery when he takes part in the Final Mile conference of eDelivery Expo (EDX). Book your place here.
