DCA UPDATE ☛ WEB VERSION: Click Here
There’s No Place Like Home The research indicates that a third of UK adults expect to spend more time at home in future than they did before lockdown measures began. And some 8 in 10 anticipate their level of online shopping will continue at the same rate, or even increase, in the months and years to come. Products suggesting that the home will feature more prominently in people’s day-to-day lives in future were popular. Online purchases included home dining products, such as smoothie makers, home bars and coffee machines. Home improvements have also topped the priority lists of many, with deliveries of paint, paintbrushes and sanding paper making the top twenty. Additionally, deliveries of candles and bedding have helped to create a calm domestic atmosphere. With food and drink being one of the most popular categories, many Brits turned to battling the bulge through home fitness orders. Among the high volume of home-gym delivery items were exercise bikes, yoga mats and dumbbells. People expect to order more clothing, groceries, books (19 per cent) and takeaway meals (19 per cent) in future, than they did before March 23rd.
Online Shopping Under Lockdown: A National Picture Some interesting facts and figures from the research include:
• A quarter of the nation expects to work from home more post-lockdown, and this is ref lected in shopping patterns. Paper and stationery feature amongst the most-ordered items, alongside technical equipment, including printers and laptops.
• The nation embraced its crafty side under lockdown. 1 in 10 (8 per cent) people purchased a paint set; whilst adult colouring books (6 per cent) sewing kits (5 per cent) and knitting equipment (4 per cent) are also popular.
• Respondents from the West Midlands, North West and Northern Ireland have ordered the most clothes online since lockdown measures began.
• Green-fingered respondents in Wales have had the most plants and flowers delivered.
Mark Street, Head of Campaigns at Royal Mail commented: “Keeping the nation connected is of vital importance to us, and our people have done an amazing job in helping to lift people’s spirit in these unprecedented times. This all comes on top of the important role we have played in delivering items, including hospital prescriptions and COVID-19 testing kits. Receiving an online delivery from one of our postmen or women continues to be a highlight of the day for many of our customers, and we believe that this will continue far beyond the boundaries of lockdown.”
Royal Mail mounts an information gathering exercise on the USO •
In its recent AGM trading statement, Royal Mail plc revealed that parcel volumes were up by 34 per cent (177 million more parcels) and revenue up 33.1 per cent year on year. However addressed letter volumes had fallen by 28 per cent equating to 1.1 billion fewer letters and a 21.5 per cent fall in revenue. The growth in parcel volume was driven largely by B2C and eCommerce.
In this changing landscape, Royal Mail says it needs the flexibility to adapt its customer offering to deliver what its customers want and it has surveyed the views of thousands of customers about what they want from postal services finding that:
customers want to retain the ‘one price goes everywhere’ principle of the USO
• they want more ways to send letters and parcels – whether online postage or parcel postboxes – and more frequent and convenient parcel deliveries.
•
they still want an affordable next-day letters service
As a result Royal Mail is currently exploring what a rebalanced Universal Service might look like and is very keen indeed to hear from DCA members and the wider direct commerce community in order to factor in these important views.
If you would like to contribute to this exercise then go to
https://homeofdirectcommerce.com/royal-mail-survey-september-2020/
homeofdirectcommerce.com | Direct Commerce 53
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