Royal Mail Vs Courier

Which one to choose?

As the E-commerce business industry continues to grow, more and more companies are exploring the option of using courier services rather than depending on Royal Mail. This article will discuss the advantages & disadvantages of both services.

In 2011 online shoppers spent a massive £68bn, a 16% increase on the previous year. The Interactive Media in Retail Group, IMRG predicts that online spend for 2012 will continue to increase, to a huge £77bn. There is no time like the present to ensure you as an online business are using the right delivery service in order to keep postage costs down, keep to delivery times and most importantly of all, keeping your customers happy and loyal to you and your brand.

Royal Mail has reported losses of £1bn for a 4^th financial year running and as a consequence, from 30^th April 2012, Royal Mail have announced they will be increasing the cost of sending mail. A first class stamp will rise from 46p to 60p and a second class stamp will rise from 36p to 50p. Moya Greene, CEO, said: “We know how hard it is for households and businesses when our economy is as tough as it is now. No-one likes to raise prices in the current economic climate but, regretfully, we have no option.

Royal mail boast 1371 delivery offices and 11,800 branches nationwide, delivering to 27.2 million residential addresses and 1.6 million registered businesses 6 days a week. These figures are impressive but why are Royal Mail continuing to make a loss? They report email and text message play a huge part in the decline of letters being posted and now with the competition from courier services, Royal Mail are struggling to keep up with modern society.

The advantages of Royal Mail:

• Royal Mail boasts 1371 sorting offices and 11,800 branches nationwide; this means if the receiver of the mail is not home, the parcel can be easily collected from a local branch.
• Royal Mail has over 360 years’ experience delivering mail nationwide and more recently, nationally.

Disadvantages:

• Are seen as outdated
• Annual price increase, this year a huge 14p jump on stamps
• 85% customer satisfaction rate
• Revenue down for the 4^th consecutive financial year

Businesses need to transport merchandise to numerous locations. If a business completely depends on the import and export of goods then it is essential to look for the right parcel delivery service provider.

Courier companies that offer local and global parcel delivery services are probably the best options to go for. With professional parcel delivery services, companies can rest assured that all parcels will be delivered to the destination at the right time and in the proper condition.

Tracking your parcel with a courier company

Professional courier companies like TNT, UPS and DHL now offer parcel tracking services. With the help of these services, locating parcels is becomes quite easy. Knowing the exact location of the parcel not only ensures that it is safe, but also helps businesses inform their clients about the expected delivery times.

The importance of parcel tracking

A parcel tracking service is essential, particularly when sending to an international destination. The governments of most countries have now made it compulsory for parcels to have a unique tracking code. When shipping a package through a courier company, it will have its own waybill or bill of lading. This will mostly depend on the kind of carrier chosen for shipping your goods. Besides parcel tracking, courier companies also offer door to door shipping and packaging services all at affordable costs.

Both ways of transporting parcels have their pro's and con's, however it is more than likely that the people and companies using either service will stick with who they believe in.

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