Thursday 5 November 2009

Online Shopping: Postal Strike Concerns Unfounded

80% of online retailers that are Royal Mail clients offer
alternative delivery methods

LONDON--(Business Wire)--

Twenga, the shopping search engine, has carried out
research to predict how the Royal Mail strikes will
impact online retailers in the run up to Christmas.

Twenga investigated the delivery options offered by
the top 50 online retailers in the UK to see how
they handle delivery during the Royal Mail strikes.
The results show that 80% of those advertising
delivery of goods through Royal Mail before the strikes
now propose alternative delivery methods to their
customers, in most cases at no extra cost, or at
a reduced fee for express delivery. For example:

* Amazon offers delivery through a courier service
at noextra cost.
* HMV offers priority delivery through a courier
service at a reduced £3.50 fee.

Many retailers go to great lengths to make sure
customers are not inconvenienced, in particular:

* ASOS has extended its returns policy to 28 days, and
introduced a paid collection service to return goods
without using Royal Mail.

Online shopping is not dependent on Royal Mail

The reliance of online retailers on Royal Mail has been
greatly exaggerated.
Even before the strikes only 31% of online retailers
relied solely on Royal Mail, a figure now reduced as
online retailers react swiftly to customer delivery
needs. 54% offer in-store collection or a collection
point.

http://www.reuters.com/

Also some reports I have been reading from sellers on
ebid, is that the Royal Mail postal service has actually improved
since the strikes started.

But articles such as the one above should hopefully reassure buyers

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