Online Shopping: Postal Strike Concerns Unfounded

80% of online retailers that are Royal Mail clients offer alternative delivery methods

Business Wire

posted: 20 DAYS 16 HOURS AGO

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Twenga, the shopping search engine, has carried out research to predict how the Royal Mail strikes will impact online retailers in the run up to Christmas. Twenga investigated the delivery options offered by the top 50 online retailers in the UK to see how they handle delivery during the Royal Mail strikes. The results show that 80% of those advertising delivery of goods through Royal Mail before the strikes now propose alternative delivery methods to their customers, in most cases at no extra cost, or at a reduced fee for express delivery. For example:

Amazon offers delivery through a courier service at no extra cost.
HMV offers priority delivery through a courier service at a reduced £3.50 fee.

Many retailers go to great lengths to make sure customers are not inconvenienced, in particular:

ASOS has extended its returns policy to 28 days, and introduced a paid collection service to return goods without using Royal Mail.

Online shopping is not dependent on Royal Mail

The reliance of online retailers on Royal Mail has been greatly exaggerated. Even before the strikes only 31% of online retailers relied solely on Royal Mail, a figure now reduced as online retailers react swiftly to customer delivery needs. 54% offer in-store collection or a collection point.

Methodology

Twenga researched the delivery options displayed on the Web sites of the top 50 retailers listed by Hitwise, excluding those with non-physical products or services.

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About Twenga

Twenga, the new-generation search engine enables millions of shoppers throughout the world to find what they want, at the best price, from the online shop of their choice.

Thanks to its home-grown technology, Twenga automatically gathers offers from online retailers and displays them in one searchable interface. As a result, Twenga has the most comprehensive listing of online shops. Its search results are objective and not biased by commercial relationships.

Founded in 2006 by Bastien Duclaux and Cedric Anes, Twenga runs 13 sites, including the UK, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Brazil, Russia, the United States and Australia displaying nearly 160 million offerings from more than 70,000 online shops. In August 2009, Twenga sites received over 21 million visits.

Website: www.twenga.co.uk/
Blog: www.twengablog.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/twenga_uk/