Pivotal point
According to Linney Group, last year went down in history as the worst year for retail ever with sales falling to their lowest ever level compared to a decade ago.
With Christmas doing little to boost the spirits of retailers and brands, we said goodbye to a decade, which witnessed some of the toughest retailing conditions ever known and more economic uncertainty than ever before.
No-one could have predicted the huge changes of the last decade and how they have transformed the rules of ‘traditional’ retail. One thing for certain is that change will continue and is likely to be at an even faster pace than before.
Online order fulfilment continues to be a key differentiator with many retailers investing in a range of flexible purchasing and online delivery options. Consumers are increasingly shopping when it suits them, including shopping online late in the evenings. Retailers in turn, are extending their online order acceptance times for Next Day delivery, with some accepting orders as late as midnight.
The continued growth in parcels, driven by online shopping, means we need to act fast to adapt our networks to facilitate accepting parcels later in the night or early in the morning for Next Day delivery.
The local improvements we are currently implementing in selected areas across the UK are designed to bring our business more in line with changing customer needs.
Everyone understands that we need to increase our focus on managing parcels as volumes continue to grow. Although this means we need to take some letter sorting machines out of service in some sites, the initiatives will have no impact on the high quality of service we offer to customers sending and receiving letters in these areas.
Letter sorting machines help Royal Mail sort letters in some delivery offices. They have done a great job. But, letter volumes have declined by 50% since 2004 and we expect them to fall by around 26% over the next five years or so.
Our £1.8 billion investment will help us to more effectively handle and deliver the changing mail bag. We are working on customer service improvements, digital initiatives, enhancements to the network and new ways of working to deliver more efficiency. It is all about the customer.
