The UK market is back in the spotlight | RetailX UK 360° Report

There’s renewed interest in the UK ecommerce market and sellers want new delivery options, says Jonathan Matchett, Senior Vice President UK at Landmark Global.

The UK market never went away for domestic and cross-border sellers. Now that the dust has settled on Brexit and – whisper it – with the earliest signs of an uptick in consumer confidence, the UK market is growing again. A number of new delivery options have emerged and are helping to drive this UK ecommerce growth.

Delivery choice? We’ve never had it so good!

Coming out of a challenging period for UK ecommerce, sellers and consumers have, ironically, never had it so good when it comes to delivery choice. Delivery to parcel shop and locker networks has reached critical mass and, while not ideal for everyone, offering a PUDO option (pick up, drop off) to shops and lockers gives the consumer real choice. If you thought delivery to home had got stale, think again. Amazon Shipping now offers a compelling alternative to EVRi and Royal Mail for 48-hour delivery. New, green delivery options have become commercially viable. A key realisation is that, like a good gin and tonic, different combinations and delivery flavours work for different ecommerce consumers and their varying shopping journeys. The flexibility that choice brings is key, with Landmark Global’s single API integration giving access to multiple UK delivery solutions.

24-hour delivery at a 48-hour price

What do sellers and consumers really want in UK delivery? There’s finally a realisation that delivery has a cost, so if it can’t be free, how do retailers make it cost less? If the dream of same-day delivery was a (very expensive) bubble that burst, how can next-day be made more effective? At a time when the universal service obligation is looking to be reduced to three days a week, how to realise daily parcel delivery? Enter Landmark Global’s new UK next-day delivery service. We’re proud to offer the UK’s first next-day delivery service at a price close to a two-day service. This service is fully tracked, door to door and seven days a week, including bank holidays.

Price is one thing – what will it cost the planet?

A number of interesting B2C delivery businesses have emerged with an environmental focus baked into their DNA. Zedify is a great example of this. These services can be a good option if your customers are city-based only. It’s more than likely that to reach all of your customers everywhere, you’ll need to engage with a delivery partner with broader and national coverage.
Discuss with them what their green credentials and roadmap are. Landmark Global’s next-day solution, for example, will be carbon neutral by 2025. It uses a mix of electric and hybrid delivery vehicles, with automated carbon emissions reporting.