We are always striving to cut costs to pass those benefits on to you, our customers.

One area where this consistently proves difficult is carriage, where our costs only ever increase.

We do have the opportunity to reduce our carriage costs on some shipments – typically smaller, lighter and lower value orders - by using the Royal Mail rather than DPD.

To explore the opportunity, assess the potential savings, test the system and measure things like reliability, we are about to start a trial period where selected orders will be shipped via Royal Mail.

The ultimate aim of the project is to reduce carriage costs and pass those savings directly onto our customers along with a wider choice of delivery options.

There will be no changes to our delivery charges during the trial, i.e. our carriage charge will be the same whether we use Royal Mail or DPD. The reason for this is that during the trial period we will make no overall cost savings by using Royal Mail; savings on our actual shipping costs in the short-term will be offset by higher costs elsewhere, specifically increased handling costs (we will be using a separate process for Royal Mail) and system development costs.

If the trial is successful we will fully automate and integrate the system, fully review our carriage options and pricing, and pass on all savings in the form of new reduced carriage charges.

Royal Mail will only be used on selected orders matching specific criteria, and will only apply to orders less than 1kg in weight. We will inform you via delivery confirmation of the shipping method used and any tracking information where relevant.

Please note that whilst most will, not all orders will have tracking available. This will apply to a relatively small percentage of orders that are low value and small; specifically below £15 value, less than 1kg in weight, and small enough to fit through a letterbox. It is important that we test this element of the service during the trial as this potentially offers the highest future cost savings.

We anticipate that if all goes well the trial period should last a minimum of three and no more than six months.

As with any new system, we can’t promise there won’t be any teething problems, but we will of course as ever aim to resolve any issues that do arise speedily and with the minimum of disruption. We appreciate your support and patience throughout the process.

Of course, your satisfaction is paramount, so if you feel strongly that you don’t want to participate in the trial or subsequent reduced carriage rates please contact Customer Services and we will exclude your orders from the trial.

Kind regards

Paul Cubbage
Managing Director