Apologies from the team at Tiger for not posting for a few weeks. It’s been a busy time commercially for us (watch out for a major news announcement soon…..)

However, we know that top of the agenda for website shop owners at the moment is most probably the postal strike. With that in mind, we strongly recommend that you take a look at the IMRG site which has practical advice for e-Retailers during the postal strike. Well worth a read.

Within that article there is mention of Collect+ which is a new service launched by Home Delivery Network and PayPoint. This allows parcels to be delivered to and collected from retailers within the PayPoint payment network (convenience stores, petrol stations etc). Go to their site www.collectplus.co.uk for info on how this could be a viable alternative to Royal Mail for your deliveries. 

Also, consult www.parcel2go.com the online parcel delivery service that uses carriers such as UPS, CityLink, DHL and others. They have just launched a Light offering to suit smaller businesses that ship up to 500 parcels a week. The site is very busy obviously at the moment (takes a while to load), but worth taking the time to take a look.

One thing you should remember is to make sure you use your home page and delivery pages to reinforce the message of reliable delivery and alert customers to the postal alternatives that you have lined up. Manage customer expectations via email and regular updates.   

ecommerce websites have been here before (remember the 2007 postal strike?) and there was no long term negative impact to online shopping. We’ll come through again, but we’re not so sure about the Royal Mail……