Independent retailers are taking parcel carrier Evri to task after being told they may need to manually input customers’ details when parcels are being dropped off, according to the Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed).
The change has been revealed in emails sent out to Evri’s network of retailers this week.
Mo Razzaq, national president of the Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed), said that this new process will obviously take more time at the till point.
He added: “In a busy store this could cause chaos, with queues building if you have to input a customer’s email address. We have to think about the negative impact of the service we provide to our other customers.”
In its full year of accounts to 29 February, 2024, Evri recorded a revenue of £1.7bn and a record-breaking profit of £117m, which was more than double of the previous year.
Razzaq said: “And all this is on the back of recently reducing bonus payments too. With Evri announcing record profits and acknowledging the key role that retailers play in this, it’s us that are being forced to do more, for less.”
In response, an Evri spokesperson said: “Our ParcelShops are at the heart of our business and the communities around us and our network continues to offer customers and small businesses an easy way to send, collect and return parcels.”
“Following a successful trial we’re excited to be rolling out digital receipts for ParcelShop customers. This will improve the customer experience with quick access to tracking, reduce the millions of paper receipt cards printed each year, and drive us towards our net-zero target. We’ll auto-fill email addresses wherever possible, so there will be no difference in time taken.”