Online Shopping and the UK Postal Workers Strike

[Gillf]

I thought I would just pop something on here which is very topical for UK online shops and their customers.

Yesterday and today the Royal Mail Postal workers are on national strike. In practise this meant no sorting yesterday and no deliveries today (Friday) and a possible delay of 1 to 2 days on deliveries. This is not so catastophic as the media would have us believe although should the situation escalate there is no doubt that online shops will face a hard time. Which is why our customers need to stay calm and keep shopping!

A lot of online lingerie shops are small businesses that do not have the volume to negotiate an affordable contract with couriers and these small businesses will be the ones who suffer most. But if the impact is no greater than a couple of days then surely it is time for customers to dump the I want and I want it NOW attitude. It is within the memory of anyone old enough to have experienced pre internet shopping that distance shopping, then through catalogues, meant waiting for the purchase. Sometimes this wait was 2 or 3 weeks, so lets put the strike into perspective and keep on shopping.

All that said, we at ever-so-sexy have actually moved away from the Royal Mail for all our UK mainland deliveries. Unfortunately we were not able to find an alternative for offshore UK, Europe or rest of the world. But for our UK mainland customers they can enjoy free UK delivery (regardless of order value) with a signed for delivery the next working day after despatch.

But just because we have a back up service we are not smug. If our customers decide to stop shopping the best delivery service in the world is not going to protect us or any of the other online retail businesses in the UK from suffering a downturn in business. So this is a call to action!! Shop - shop and shop some more.
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Luxury Lingerie for women who love being women. www.ever-so-sexy.com

[Mandolina]

I bet it's tough to see your business influenced by factors you have no control over... I'm very familiar with the frustrations that go with outside stuff moving into your bottom line.

Let's hope things get resolved soon!

[Wild Thing]

[Cupid]

Yes, it can be frustrating. Many customers order things at the last minute, or need them urgently for a special occasion - and for many of them they have no other option but to shop online. Many live in areas where there is little choice in their local shops, and the journey into the nearest city/large town may be very inconvenient to them. That is the great thing about internet shopping - the shops come to your doorstep.

Like so many online shops, we have noticed a reduction in orders over the last week for the UK. Although we are based in the Isle of Man (which is not part of the UK), our post has to pass through the UK postal system.

Although two or even three days of striking in the postal service does not have that much of an effect upon delivery times, people are reluctant to place orders all the same, and that makes it difficult for the small independent lingerie boutiques such as ourselves.

Cupid
http://www.cupidlingerie.co.uk