Amazon are perhaps the least tolerant marketplace when it comes to failing to keep a customer promise and generally don’t tolerate failure even when it’s due to external events outside a retailers control. That’s why it’s particularly gratifying to see them extend Royal Mail delivery dates over the strike period which starts this Friday.
Often when sellers have approached Amazon for advice, the reply has been stark and simple – use an alternative carrier. While this may be possible for parcels, for the millions of items shipped via letter or large letter post there simply aren’t any alternatives available at a comparable cost and so seeing Amazon extend Royal Mail delivery dates will be very much welcomed by many.
Amazon extend Royal Mail delivery dates
Due to expected Royal Mail strike action and disruption to delivery services across the UK, we’ll extend customer-facing delivery promises for all seller-fulfilled offers, including Seller Fulfilled Prime, in the coming weeks.
We understand that these events might cause significant disruptions for some sellers. We’re committed to working with you to mitigate any negative effect on your account health.
– Amazon
The strikes are planned for the following dates:
- Friday, August 26
- Wednesday, August 31
- Thursday, September 8
- Friday, September 9
Actions to minimise strike impact
To minimise the impact to your operations, Amazon recommend the following best practices:
- Inform your carriers in advance of volume forecasts and changes in demand.
- Consider using multiple carriers to ensure that you can ship products out on time.
- Provide customers with correct tracking information and regular updates if their order is delayed beyond the expected delivery date.
- To avoid potential harm to your cancellation rate, continue to fulfil orders as soon as you’re able.
- If you’re unable to process customer orders at all, update your Listing status for holidays and other absences to deactivate all of your seller-fulfilled listings for the UK. You must still process and ship all orders that you receive up until you deactivate your listings.
