Delivering Results in 2011

It would seem that 2011 might finally be the year that delivers the expectations customers have been waiting for. And when I say delivers, what I really mean is delivery. You see, for as long as there has been eCommerce in our lives, there has been the need for eCommerce businesses to rely on the network of carriers that criss-cross our country and beyond, and until now those carriers have often fallen short of the expectations of our ‘on demand’ society.

This has meant that as eCommerce grew, so too did the demand on the carriers and their offerings, unfortunately it would appear that growth in those two areas has been at very different speeds. Thankfully the last few years has seen changes from the retailers themselves to address this situation with initiatives such as click and collect allowing the customer to order online for delivery to a store of their choosing, putting the delivery through internal networks rather than through traditional carriers. But this is still not the holy grail of convenience as the customer would still expect a few days delay and also to have to travel to the store in question to collect the parcel themselves.

But it would seem the industry is responding too. Last year saw the launch of Shutl which built its' USP on deliveries that could be made within 90 minutes with a service called Shutl NOW. In addition is a 1 hour delivery window option called Shutl LATER.

With retailers such as Argos and Laithwaites on board, Shutl managed to tap into a very healthy ‘on demand’ customer base, but until now they were limited by regional participation of Argos stores. Thankfully Shutl have recently announced that they are to take the 90 minute delivery nationwide, whilst at the same time, working with POD1 to develop a Magento module allowing any Magento platformed site to add the Shutl option with minimal effort.

Only time will tell, but if customers using Shutl now start to see it appear on other eCommerce sites, and if those who haven’t used it before are willing to give it a go, then you can only hope that 2011 may be a tipping point for this type of service and perhaps eCommerce really can deliver on its promises.

Posted by: Robert Blair

UPDATE:

In a recent article posted on www.internetretailing.net it has been announced that Shutl have now received financial backing which they will use to take their 90 minute delivery offering into Europe.