Yodel chairman says next-day delivery may not be feasible to offer as the standard default 

By

Cajsa Lykke Carlson

Published
Feb 11, 2015

As Yodel, the UK's leading independent parcel carrier, released its figures for the Christmas period, executive chairman Dick Stead, who feels that it may not be feasible to offer 24 hours as the standard default, had some warning words about the future of next-day delivery.

"The Black Friday phenomenon, which overtook Cyber Monday as the peak online shopping day for the first time, has changed the Christmas peak model, possibly forever, as consumers are changing their online shopping habits, condensing them into a shorter time period," he said.

"We're reviewing our performance and will be working with our valued retail clients on next year's Peak plan, setting out a new blueprint for Christmas operations going forward."

Between December 1 and 24, Yodel delivered over 15.5m parcels. An 11% year-on-year increase. Christmas shopping predictions underestimated the level of sales for Black Friday (November 28) and Cyber Monday (December 1.)

Stead said that most retailers cannot forecast future demand for their products, and that the carrier industry can't be expected to take all the risk and to invest in building networks that are capable of handling unspecified peaks.

"The model of next day delivery as standard for all orders simply has to change when volumes unexpectedly increase to such an extent, in a capacity constrained business," Stead said.

He concluded that: "We need to find a method of spreading deliveries to match the volatile industry capacity, while meeting consumer expectations and delivering a high quality service that meets everyone's requirements. That may mean that 48 and 72 hour services become the standard during peak periods, and where required, next day deliveries are available for a premium."

On December 1, 2014, Yodel delivered over 1.2m parcels to customers across the UK, over 40% more than on the carrier's peak day in December 2013.