Royal Mail have just announced free of charge text or email notifications for Special Delivery and Tracked items in time for Christmas.
The notifications for Special Delivery are new, and will become a standard, free-of-charge feature of Royal Mail’s Special Delivery Guaranteed service for contract business customers in time for Christmas.
Royal Mail’s Tracked services already have email and text notification options, but the charge for using these will be dropped.
The move is designed to help online retailers improve the online shopping experience for their customers by ensuring they know when an item is due for delivery. This enables shoppers to make arrangements to be at home to receive the delivery, improving first time delivery success rates
It will be available for contract customers using Special Delivery Guaranteed through Despatch Manager Online, and for those who have integrated their software with Royal Mail’s systems.
It’s a great enhancement to Royal Mail’s service, especially for Special Delivery which customers will know will be delivered by 1pm at the latest. Tracked is of course slightly more variable as it doesn’t have a guaranteed delivery time, but at least knowing it’s out for delivery that day is a great improvement to having to check daily online to see when your parcel will arrive.
There are two things you’ll need to do. Firstly if you use a third party solution you’ll need to check with your software provide if they’ve added the ability to send emails and/or text messages. Secondly you may wish to ensure customer give you a mobile telephone number and edit your terms and conditions to request this.
8 Responses
Seems like a step in the right direction. Royal mail should try to look after the online retailers by making it easier for them to trade online and to ensure packages get delivered on time, this will in turn increase the use of the postal service. Keep it up royal mail
Can we know when this comes into effect?
I hope it is better that the one offered by ParcelForce. Tested couples orders with PF, got text 10pm telling me there is delievery due to arrive that day, will be useful it the text arrived in the morning.
I would like to think that the customer is able to opt out of this “improvement”. I give retailers my email address so that they can confirm my order, let me know an item has been despatched or if there is a problem. I always tick a box that says not to share my information. The right to pass my email address to another organisation, in this case The Royal Mail, should not be hidden away in the T&Cs.
I received a text stating that my item has been delivered to me so where is it then?? No item and no card to say iv missed my delivery?? Tried to call royal mail to be greeting by a damn robot that doesn’t even give me an option i need or the option to speak to a human being! -.-