Royal Mail have confirmed that DMO (Despatch Manager Online) is to be retired in 2018 with the replacement service being dubbed Click & Drop. When we broke the news yesterday about DMO’s retirement, we promised we’d take a look at Click & Drop and get you the inside details you need to know.
You don’t need to make any changes before Christmas!
Good news, you need do nothing this side of Christmas (unless you want to). We know you’re run off your feet processing orders and so do Royal Mail. Whilst they’re starting to raise awareness of Click & Drop the last thing they want you to do is to have to change how you work in the busiest quarter of the year.
Why are Royal Mail retiring DMO?
Royal Mail are looking to new technology which is simpler, more modern and crucially compliant with modern Internet browsers. At the same time they are introducing a ton more features to make life easier for the hard working online retailer.
Click & Drop sees a ton of new features such as the ability to import orders from many marketplaces and website platforms – already supported are Amazon, eBay, Big Commerce, Magento, Shopify & Not On The High Street with more such as Etsy coming soon. Plus Click & Drop will also mark items as despatched and upload tracking numbers.
There are tools to make your life easier so if for example you have a best selling product which always ships in the same size box, is always the same weight and you always ship via the same Royal Mail service then you can save a rule to pre-populate these options every time you sell one.
There are some nice touches such as the ability to feature your brand name in Royal Mail email and SMS tracking notifications to your customers. This is available to all Click & Drop users not matter small your business is giving you another way to reinforce your brand with your customers.
Royal Mail Click & Drop features
The three types of DMO user and how Royal Mail Click & Drop applies to you
Pay as you go customers
If you’re been accustomed to paying for your postage through Online Postage (OLP) or in the past used SmartStamp then you can use Click & Drop in pretty much the same way, but with a ton more features. You can still choose to pay with credit card or PayPal.
Account Customers
If you’re a Royal Mail Online Business Account (OBA) user then again you can simply switch to using Click & Drop. You’ll simply enter your OBA account number and posting location when you sign up to the new service.
API Customers
If you have an API integration with Royal Mail DMO, either through your own software or through a third party multichannel management program then you need to make no changes for the foreseeable future. Royal Mail are aiming to migrate all API customers in the summer of 2018 and hope to do this in a seamless manner with absolute minimal input needed from their users.