Yodel has announced a new partnership with online lingerie and swimwear retailer, Figleaves, which is expected to bring over half a million parcels into the network each year. The partnership means Yodel is now Figleaves’ sole UK delivery partner.
“We see ourselves as an extension of our retail clients’ businesses, supporting them and their customers throughout the delivery process. Following the successful collaboration with our CollectPlus service, we are thrilled to announce that Figleaves has chosen to extend the relationship with Yodel. We look forward to working closely with Figleaves to enhance the customer experience from the time that they place their order to the moment they receive it.”
– Neil Ashworth, Chief Commercial Officer at Yodel and CEO of CollectPlus
Yodel will provide Figleaves’ customers with greater visibility of the status of their delivery through its online tracking, as well as improved communications to enhance the overall customer experience. Shoppers will receive proactive Figleaves-branded email updates, SMS messages and push notifications via the Yodel app, which alongside live tracking on the Yodel website, are designed to improve their ability to monitor the progress of their parcels.
By extending the seal time at Yodel’s sort, Figleaves is also able to increase its order deadline, allowing customers to order later in the evening and still receive their purchases next day, six days a week as standard. In addition shoppers will also have the option to receive their items before noon.
This new partnership follows Figleaves’ existing collaboration with Yodel’s subsidiary company, Drop & Collect, which trades as CollectPlus, which allows customers to elect to collect or return their orders through a nationwide network of over 7,000 neighbourhood stores, which offer operate opening hours, seven days a week.
“Yodel has done an outstanding job of supporting us in delivering our products to our valued customers. They provide a fully trackable service which allows us to offer an outstanding service to our customers. The personal support that is offered to our team is highly valued and we foresee a great partnership ahead.”
– Leigh Jansen, Figleaves Head of Operations & Customer Service
A key factor in Figleaves choosing Yodel is it gives them the ability to offer customers a choice of delivery options including next day delivery and pre-midday delivery with an extended order deadline. Yodel are focused on being a ‘boring reliable’ courier as their COO, Adrian Harris, describes their goal, but they are also undergoing a long term renewal.
As with the entire courier industry, Yodel are zeroing in on the consumer and looking at how to personalise the delivery experience as opposed to focusing on the parcel and getting it from A to B, which is why they now offer a 2 hour predicted delivery window on the day a parcel is due to arrive. This combined with their click and collect service via Collect Plus widens the consumers choice enabling them to receive their parcel when they want it on the day that they’d like to receive it.
Yodel were reported to have captured an 8% share of the UK carrier market by number of parcels in the Pitney Bowes ‘Parcel Shipping Index 2017’ and their new innovations are paying dividends both in customer wins like Figleaves and their customer satisfaction scores.
Yodel have historic reputational challenges, but from personal experience of their recent performance and from all indications new customer wins, their turnaround is well under way and they have fast become a courier who should be on your short list to consider next time you review your shipping portfolio.
One Response
just reading the quote from yodel and the quote from figleaves….. seriously? Did money change hands for that? Year after year yodel get slated in the customer satisfaction charts… yet somehow they offer ‘outstanding service to our customers’.
As for Yodels “We see ourselves as an extension of our retail clients’ businesses, supporting them and their customers throughout the delivery process.” If i thought that Yodel was an extention of my business, I would close down out of respect to my customers.
We stopped using them years ago due to the excessive amount of issues. I can’t even blame unrealistic customer expectations as my personal experience has been dreadful too. After all who else would deliver a large cardboard box with so much yodel tape around it that you could only just make out the box….which was dripping wet with a hazardous chemical. The 2 five litre drums had been broken and most leaked out, but its ok, just ring the bell dump by the door and run off ( yes we saw him!) When complained was told it wouldnt have been delivered like that so it must have happened when he put it down!!! yeah right, the tape to hold the sodden box was a gift from the fairies? I won’t bore you with other horror stories!