Getting delivery right is one of our top priorities – probably to the point of being a bit OCD about it ! We’ve recently made a couple of changes to our shipping options.
Dropping DPD
The main change is that we’ve stopped using DPD. This is due to a combination of a price increase we felt was too high to pass on to our customers, and a gradual deterioration in the standard of their service.
Before setting up SnM Stuff, I spent a long time in the logistics industry, doing everything from being a motorcycle courier to running the accounts department of a quality regional courier company. In the process, I learned that there is a cycle that service companies tend to follow. They realise they need to do better, so they work hard to really improve the service. Then everyone discovers how good they are and starts using them. At that point they can’t cope with the extra volume, and the company increases prices to try to maintain profits while the service levels drop. Then the whole cycle starts again.
I feel that DPD are currently on the downslope of that cycle; they were brilliant, but it’s just starting to slip. After a delivery where the driver just landed it on the local parcel shop and falsified the delivery status (I guess going up a flight of stairs was too much for him…), they just took the view that it was our problem (when we eventually managed to get them to respond to contact) and we were left by them to solve it for ourselves. We solved it, but it involved a 70-mile round trip to retrieve the parcel and deliver it ourselves – luckily our customer was really understanding. That was the point where we decided it was time to stop using them.
Introducing Yodel
In place of DPD, we are now offering delivery by Yodel. Yes, I know Yodel used to have a poor reputation, but they have invested heavily in their infrastructure and it’s paying off. We’ve been testing their service for a while, and found it to be very good – not perfect of course, because we live in the real world, but the on-time delivery success rate is somewhat better than DPD’s. Just as importantly, the only delivery issue we’ve had with them so far was minor, easily solved, and they were very helpful in resolving it.
Yodel’s prices are more reasonable than DPD’s, and have the advantage of better surcharges for out-of-area locations and no surcharges currently for congestion charge or ULEZ zones. Best of all, they count Saturday as a normal delivery day so that orders placed on a Friday will be delivered on the Saturday without being surcharged. This all helps us keep our free shipping threshold unchanged.
Royal Mail Price Increases
Royal Mail are having a general price increase on Monday 2nd October, the second this year. It works out at about 10% across most services, and 15-20% for Large Letters. Additionally, for business customers only they will also be introducing two new surcharges – a green surcharge from 6th November, and a seasonal surcharge which will be in place from 20th November until 7th January.
We’re still working through the impact this increase will have on the prices we charge. Our goal is to charge postage at what it costs without making any extra money from it, and only subsidise post for orders over the free shipping threshold. It simplifies the maths when we work out our product prices, and helps us keep prices lower if we don’t have to factor in the cost of subsidising postage.
So far, we haven’t found a viable alternative to Royal Mail for Large Letter sized deliveries. After the price increase, Yodel will be comparable to the Royal Mail Tracked48 service, but we’re hesitant when it comes to giving Evri another try ! We’d welcome feedback on this !