June 29 2020

Yodel - Peak Experts

Peak is the busiest time of the year for the retail & logistics sector, and 2019 was Yodel’s most successful Peak so far. With over 15 million parcels delivered over the Christmas period, from the 24^th November to the 24^th December 2019.

During this time, our service levels remained consistently high with an average of 98.04% deliveries ‘Attempted on time’ in the 7-week period from mid-November to January. The success was down to the skills in our Operation and Support Functions.

Customer Feedback

As a result of investing £500,000 in doorstep excellence training for all final mile drivers in 2019, our customer satisfaction levels were at an all time high with 85.8% of online shoppers surveyed through our customer feedback programme, Have Your Say reporting a positive delivery experience. Our investment in the doorstep experience continues in 2020 to maintain this level of service for our customers.

After analysing data from Have Your Say, the following areas were uncovered as being the 4 key drivers to a great customer experience within our industry. Through this award winning tool, we can see what customers loved about their deliveries and report back into the business to ensure there is continuous improvement for our clients and their customers. During peak 2019, our ‘4 Whats’ scores improved year on year.

Condition – Parcels are in the best possible condition on arrival (+1.4%)

Informed – Customers receiving notifications on their parcel status (+4.8%)

Attitude – Attitude and friendliness of our drivers at the point of delivery (+1.9%)

On-Time – Ensuring a parcel is delivered when we say it will be (+3.5%)

We continue to receive great feedback through Have Your Say, with comments like:

“I had to change the date of delivery - very easy and efficient through email and the Yodel App. Very pleased!”.

“Updated by emails, always on time as promised to be expected. Great attitude towards customers by drivers. Excellent service. Definitely would recommend Yodel”

During our busiest time, we grew our Trustpilot score to 4.2/5 ‘Great’ and have since increased to 4.4 ‘Excellent’.

With a successful operation and delighting customers everyday, our parcel to contact ratio significantly reduced year on year from 1.8% to 0.7% and we saw a 50% reduction in client contact year on year.

Client partnerships

Communication and working closely with our clients is integral for our operation to run efficiently and smoothly. In the months leading up to the peak period, we work closely with all clients to gain a better understanding of theirs and their customers’ requirements. We gain an understanding of their operations to enable them to provide accurate forecasts and suggest working practices to help smooth the delivery process. Equally, we keep communication at the forefront, continuously providing updates to clients via our Business Control Tower, our client customer service portal, eRin, along with proactive notifications and consistent support from Client Directors in the run up to, and throughout the peak period.

A different sort of peak

While December remains the biggest online shopping month, more recently we encountered a different type of peak with the COVID-19 lockdown causing an unseasonal spike in online shopping . Yodel implemented our previously successful Peak strategy to forecast the increasing volumes that were entering our network. Our Client Management Team worked in close partnership with our clients for the best results and ensuring we continued to deliver great service even in the face of adversity.

• Our Xpect 24 service performance was between 98.4% and 99.4%
• Our Trustpilot score increased to 4.4/5 ‘Excellent’
• Our customer satisfaction score grew to 93%, with great feedback: "Social distancing adhered to and was good to see the driver wearing gloves"

Peak 2020

To ensure we have an equally positive and smooth 2020 Peak, our teams have already started planning, and it is this advance planning which will contribute to us having an even more successfull peak this year.

To learn more about our services or to speak to one of our team, fill out your details to the right and we will get back in touch.

 

*Figures for peak were measured from the 24^th November 2019 – 23^rd December 2019

*Figures for COVID-19 were measured in the five-week period between 8^th March – 11^th April 2020. 

Source:Yodel’s Report Centre & Have Your Say programme, April 2020.