Posted by: Will Dawson Monday 30 March 2015 16.32

Internet Retailing’s eDelivery expo is at the forefront of retailers’ calendars in terms of online fulfilment. From picking up in stores to delivering in taxis, hyperlocal to national propositions, the retailing delivery landscape is changing for the customers. Here are the top trends observed from this year's conference.

PUDO

• Pick-up & Drop-off locations were consistently cited as a major growth area for all retailers that were presenting. With the UK seen as pioneers compared with our European counterparts. 
• Paolo Rangoni, (Carrefour Italy): “Carrefour is mainly brick and mortar. There is not a large percentage of sales done via the net. What there is tends to mostly be in France. But while Italy generally lags behind somewhere like the UK”
• While the UK benefits from a smaller geography than some of the European countries, the main differentiator is internet proliferation. With the UK being more connected at home and on the move. 
• Home delivery is useful but collections are becoming a preferred option for many customers. With store pickups and locker collections, the retailer needs to reach the customer in as many ways as possible. 
• The Drop-off/returns challenge cited by many as the future battle ground 
• Damian May (John Lewis) “Click & Collect is our main focus now, but returns will be game changer in the next 12-18 months”
• Enabling the pick-up locations also allows the reverse flows; however the speed of the processing is key for the customer experience. Presumption of the item/good being returned honestly will be the standard; therefore the refund will be processed once the item is fist received into the network.

Retail partnerships

• Not all retailers have the UK coverage required for convenience customer and we are seeing more retailers’ team up to extend their coverage. 
• Damian May (John Lewis) “Click and collect from Waitrose basically saved John Lewis Partnership during Black Friday”
• John Lewis already had a partner in Waitrose, but when they added free next day delivery to stores JLs sales increased. ‘Collect from Waitrose’ accounted for 50% of volume during Black Friday for John Lewis (sent via own fleet rather than carrier), allowing for longer picking time in the warehouse – essentially allowing John Lewis to process significantly more orders.
• Argos recently implemented two initiatives, one with Sainsbury’s and another with eBay. Additionally, Halfords announced a partnership with DPD to allow other retailers to deliver to their stores (via DPD). 
• Other retailers are partnering up, where they don’t have competing lines, to leverage their store estates more effectively. The elephant in the room is what the supermarkets are planning to do as they have the most convenient locations.

The final mile

• A main concern raised, during a Q&A session, was leaving carriers to deliver the final mile; Good = Expensive, Cheap = Poor service. 
• How do you manage this, from a retail point, when dealing with <£40 average order values? Where a good/expensive delivery service would erode profit margin…
• Unsurprisingly, the answer was PUDO locations. While charging for a premium home delivery service

Mobile

• Dave Morrissey (Facebook) “54% of digital interactions are done on mobile; with 88% of mobile shoppers only using the mobile channel”
• Another major theme was the rampant growth of the mobile shopper – comparing prices in store, researching items and checking stock. Shoppers are now more informed with a purchase, service or options that many store staff

What’s next?

While the retailers are gearing up for PUDO proliferation and mobile optimisation, what do the retailers see as the future of delivery? Well, they don’t know…

• Drones are on the horizon (figuratively & literately)
• Same day delivery causes a logistics headache as carriers are struggling to support the retailers
• The technology behind Uber allows taxis to be connected, this could be used for hyperlocal final mile

Overall, retailers seem to be bulking out and clarifying their current offer rather that adding new services. The customer is commanding what the retailers do through their purchase behaviour; if the retailers want to maximise their sales they need to offer limitless ways for the consumer to make their purchase decisions and choices.