Firms target Royal Mail's parcel business

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/markets/ar ... topstories" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Royal Mail's highly profitable parcels business faces ferocious new competition from companies planning to do deals with corner shops and garages as collection points for customers.

The explosion in business created by internet shopping has been responsible for a surge in parcel sales at Royal Mail. The extra demand has more than compensated for the steady losses from the letters business as more people switch to sending emails.

But this profitable business is under threat as businesses have become exasperated by recent Royal Mail strikes. Homeowners are also fed up with receiving cards through their letterboxes telling them to pick up their parcel from a depot often some distance away.

Now two rivals are stepping in. PayPoint, the bills payment company based in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, and private mail company DX Group in Iver, Buckinghamshire, are both establishing their own parcels businesses.

PayPoint has been steadily building up its parcels operation since Royal Mail's strikes started in November. The impetus for the new business called Collect+ was not just the Royal Mail strike, but a deal with eBay.

Buyers on eBay are offered a delivery choice and can opt to have their goods sent through Collect+. Their parcel can be delivered to a nearby shop or garage.

The company has 4,000 outlets, mostly convenience stores, where parcels can be collected. There are plans to expand to about 5,000 outlets if the business continues to grow.

A PayPoint spokesman said: 'The strikes certainly helped the business, but people often prefer to pick up their parcels from a secure point near them rather than get one of those letters telling them that their parcel is in a depot miles away.' DX Group is working on plans to invest up to £40 million in about 1,700 outlets, ranging from shops and garages to rail stations, bus stations and airports.

Goods ordered online would be delivered to locked boxes and the recipient could pick them up after being texted or emailed an entry code. Most of the pick-up points, which would be accessible 24 hours a day, would be nearby.

John Coghlan, chief executive of DX, said: 'We are considering setting up similar operations overseas.'

[dvbuk55]

Good! Less for us to hump about.

Now for these accessible 24 hour boxes - where are they going to put them? You need council permission to put boxes on the pavement and the public weren't that interested in having RM boxes on their property when we had a problem getting council permission to site boxes and unless these boxes ARE secure they are going to be easy targets for thieves. This sounds like an idea created by an RM runaway, sounds good, looks good on paper - totally impractical.

[axeman]

'home shoping' for thieves save them going out to the shops thieving very convient

[DGP1]

The company has 4,000 outlets, mostly convenience stores, where parcels can be collected. There are plans to expand to about 5,000 outlets if the business continues to grow.

These are just corner shops that will not have the space to store all these packets, just imagine what all our offices are like when the packets come in every morning and all those would have to be stored

[Postie558]

I bet we'll end up delivering said items to said collection points via DSA...

[DGP1]

I bet we'll end up delivering said items to said collection points via DSA...

Nope, we'll end up delivering the parcels to peoples houses (via DSA) and those we can't deliver we'll probably drop off at the collection point

[POSTMAN]

Open the callers office later ffs,it aint hard!

[bandit650]

Open the callers office later ffs,it aint hard!

Well said,some one with some common sense thats all it needs,so if some body from Royal Mail Management would like to take note!You have some one here giving you the answer to stop us loosing even more work!

[dvbuk55]

Open the callers office later ffs,it aint hard!

Our Callers office opens at 0700 and closes at 1800 - 1230 on Saturday - surely that's long enough.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Open the callers office later ffs,it aint hard!

Our Callers office opens at 0700 and closes at 1800 - 1230 on Saturday - surely that's long enough.

Thats what ours used to be its now 7.00am to 12.30 every day - and we are a town centre DO. It beggars belief,

[AnotherLimey]

Open the callers office later ffs,it aint hard!

Our Callers office opens at 0700 and closes at 1800 - 1230 on Saturday - surely that's long enough.

Thats what ours used to be its now 7.00am to 12.30 every day - and we are a town centre DO. It beggars belief,

Same here, callers office hours cut to meet a unrealistic budget, result? lose of business

[dvbuk55]

Open the callers office later ffs,it aint hard!

Our Callers office opens at 0700 and closes at 1800 - 1230 on Saturday - surely that's long enough.

Thats what ours used to be its now 7.00am to 12.30 every day - and we are a town centre DO. It beggars belief,

It does beggar belief, I thought only small offices closed at lunch time. Our posties aren't back before 1, apart from the bulk guys, so who books the packets in and deals with the tracked returns? One day at christmas several hundred packets came back on a single day. Over that fortnight we stayed open until 1930 and 1730 on the Saturdays and opened at 0600. My dining room is larger than the space for customers in the callers office if we closed at 1230 they would be queuing round the block. We also recieve business mail in between 1630 and 1800 and the collections continue until 1900.

[bandit650]

We are a main line office attached to a mail center we use to be open from 07.00 -17.30 until some stupid manager decided that to save money we could shut the callers, we shut at 13.30 which is great as very few of us get back until after 14.30 no good to anyone still i suppose the managers know best,not! and you know the best thing never a manager there when we come back goodness knows what will happen if anyone is injured whilst out doing the job.

[POSTMAN]

Ours shuts at 12:30,and the walkers have to put 48hrs! on the 739's!