Paying a premium

First there was Amazon Prime, then came Asos Premier, now M and M Direct has launched its Premier service, offering customers free express delivery, free returns, priority mailings and exclusive offers.
Amazon Prime, Asos Premier and M and M Direct Premier are membership programmes that charge customers an annual fee for added-value services. Amazon’s service costs £49 a year; Asos currently charges £14.95 and M and M Direct charges £14.99 as an introductory price. But do they represent good deals for the merchant and the consumer?

I looked at joining Amazon Prime, but could not see any immediate benefits as a consumer. Sure, I could get “free one-day delivery on millions of eligible items sold by Amazon.co.uk”, but what about the items sold by third-parties on the site; not all of those are eligible. Not to mention that most items are eligible for Amazon’s free super-saver delivery anyway. I may have to wait up to five days to receive my purchase, but if I wanted it sooner I’d pay the one-off delivery charge. For most items I am happy to wait a few days. Although my family buys a lot on Amazon, I don’t think our shipping costs rack up to £49 a year. Thanks, but no thanks. This offer clearly works out better for Amazon and if people are willing to pay £49 when they could get a very similar service for free, Amazon is definitely the smartest marketer out there.

The Premier offer from apparel etailer Asos is instantly more enticing for consumers. It offers free next-day delivery as well as a returns collection service. I can see the immediate attraction of not having to trudge to the post office to return a parcel. Another benefit, at least for a catalogue nut like me, is that Asos will mail its customer magazine to Premier customers each month. I have bought from Asos a couple of times over the past year or so, but they’ve not sent me a magazine for several months. I was told by a customer services rep that “we send out the magazine every month to a random selection of people who have ordered from us in the last six months. This means that if you keep ordering from us you will receive the Asos magazine,” she directed me to the online version, but it’s just not the same. For £19.95, or even the full price of £24.95, the Asos Premier deal is much better than Amazon’s. As Asos already offers free delivery with no minimum order value, albeit not next-day, I guess the Premier service is a way to reclaim revenue from deliveries. It’s also a great way for Asos to communicate directly with its very best customers. Plenty of online retailers can segment their databases to find out who among their customers buys the most often. But using a service like Premier, Asos knows exactly who its most engaged customers are. To use a much-bandied term, the people who subscribe to a service like Premier are likely “brand advocates”, willing to pay extra for a service from their favourite retailer. Impress these people and they will tell their friends, who may then also join the service, who will tell their friends, and so on.

M and M Direct’s offer is very similar to Asos. It includes free express shipping, free returns, “priority mailings” and exclusive offers. Already, M and M says 50,000 people have signed up to the programme since March. Again, like Asos, M and M calls out receiving regular catalogues as a key benefit. Its non-offer price is £19.99, cheaper than Asos’s full price. The real added benefit here is that M and M Direct normally charges £6.99 for express delivery and £3.99 for standard delivery compared with Asos and Amazon where customers can opt for free delivery on most items. That means that the service essentially pays for itself after just two orders. For regular shoppers, that’s a very tempting deal.

If I genuinely shopped that often with a retailer, paying for a premium service would definitely appeal. It’s a concept that would work for anything purchased regularly--pet supplies, vitamins and supplements, home-office supplies, childrenswear and baby products, and so much more. If margins permit, we may see many more of this premium services crop up. After all, there’s nothing customers love more than being treated like VIPs.--MT

A wild-goose chase with Outdoor and Country

Whilst flicking through the Outdoor & Country catalogue I fell in love with an adorable jumper that would be perfect for my niece. I immediately made a mental note to buy it for her birthday next month. The “Free Delivery” dot whack on the right-hand side of the page did its job in further persuading me that this was a good buy. However, a closer look at the free delivery offer revealed that “conditions apply”.

Okay, where can I find out what the conditions are? Nothing on the front or back covers pointed to a free p&p offer, the welcome letter on page 2 also made no mention of such a deal. Even the terms and conditions form at the back was no help. In very fine print on the order form I noted that full terms and conditions regarding delivery are available online. So I headed online. Happily, each spread carries the web address at the bottom on the page so at least I didn’t have to look too hard for that.

Nothing about free delivery on the home page. The link to “Delivery” takes me to a page about Christmas ordering and the returns process, but nothing about free shipping. The help page was a bit more help, but only told me of standard shipping rates, not about any offers.

I then decided to search for the product and see whether by adding it to my basket, the checkout process will work out charges for me. No such luck, the jumper is out of stock in all sizes.

After all that effort I still don’t know what the deal is, and even more disappointed to learn that it’s out of stock anyway. Cataloguers take note—don’t make the consumer work so hard. If free delivery has conditions, specify what they are within the catalogue. Not everyone will be sat by a computer when browsing your catalogue, and even if they are, they shouldn’t be expected to hunt for something made so prominent on a product page.—MT

Striking while the iron's cold

When the Communication Workers Union announced last week that it would not strike against Royal Mail for the remainder of the year, there was much rejoicing among businesses and consumers alike. So I don't understand why I am still receiving emails from direct merchants--including Culinary Concepts, Space NK, and Jigsaw--telling me "don't worry about your order getting delayed by the postal strikes, where possible we will send your order via courier", reassuring me that "delivery will not be affected by the Royal Mail strike action", and advising that by ordering with them I can "beat the strike" because they use alternative carriers.

One of the advantages of email marketing is how quickly you can create or amend a message. Sending out-of-date messages like these will not inspire trust among recipients in your company's ability to stay on top of things.

Petmeds, on the other hand, once again shows how it should be done. Last month we praised the pet-supplies merchant for its email to customers warning them of possible delivery delays due to the postal strikes. Today it sent out another email noting that normal Royal Mail delivery has resumed. What's more, "We would like to thank everyone for their patience during the strikes by offering free postage on all UK orders until Monday 16th November". Well done!--SC

Delivering info about deliveries, take two

Last week I went on a bit about how few companies were posting messages on their home pages reassuring customers about deliveries in the event of a Royal Mail strike. But I’m pleased to report that during the past day or so, eight of the 17 marketing emails I’ve received have included some sort of note about delivery. (Okay, I’d be even more pleased to report that the Communication Workers Union won’t be striking against Royal Mail tomorrow, but hey ho.)

For instance, in its email the day before the scheduled strike, NotontheHighStreet.com included a “Postal Strike Update”. The note was a bit ambiguous: “While any postal strike will inevitably affect some of the delivery times stated on our product pages, many of our deliveries are by courier and will be unaffected. In addition, we will do everything we can to get your order to you as quickly as we can.” While I like the idea of the beautifully groomed NotontheHighStreet founders pedalling a bike in high heels to personally deliver a gift to a customer, that’s probably not what they had in mind by “we will do everything we can”.

The postal note appeared about three-quarters of the way down the NotontheHighStreet email; I didn’t see it until I’d hit the Page Down button 13 times. I also had to scroll down, though just a bit, on the email from Baker Ross to read that “Your order will NOT be affected by a Royal Mail strike”.

Great Little Trading Co, on the other hand, put its notice right at the top of its email. So did Great Universal, which kept its message short and sweet: “Rely on us—we won’t be affected by the Royal Mail strikes.” Others that featured reassurances regarding delivery on the initial screen of their emails were The Book People, The Healthy House, and Vertbaudet.

Next and Joe Browns even used the occasion of the impending strikes to contact their subscribers just to let them know that delivery would be unaffected.

Another eight retailers made no mention of the Royal Mail strikes or delivery options in the marketing emails they sent out on the Tuesday and Wednesday prior to the scheduled strike. Maybe that’s because they are Royal Mail customers and have no contingency plans.

Then again, Petmeds uses Royal Mail, yet it emailed customers an update about delivery. “Due to ongoing Royal Mail Postal strikes we ask if you could allow extra time for orders to be delivered. We are currently working on using an alternative postal provider and will update you when this is in place,” the message began. It proceeded to remind readers of its expedited service options and added, “We really value your custom and appreciate your patience at this time”. Come on, everyone: Aww…

Petmeds knows that consumers would rather be kept informed, even if the information isn’t ideal. It also knows how to position that less-than-ideal news, in this instance by couching it as a “we’re all in this together” situation. After all, very often it’s not what you say but how you say it--and that you say it--that counts.--SC

Delivering info about deliveries

When I searched for "Royal Mail" and "strike" this afternoon, Google News delivered "about" 2,368 news stories as results. (I love how Google News won't pin itself down to a specific number of stories but instead feels the need to qualify the number with "about".) A sampling of the headlines: "Royal Mail national strike would cause havoc with Christmas post" (The Telegraph); "Firms' fears over post strike threat" (Scunthorpe Telegraph); "Prepare for disruption" (Burton Mail); "The last post" (The Independent).

I figured that lots of direct sellers would be responding to the fearsome headlines with messages on their websites reassuring customers that even in the case of a national strike, their orders would be delivered on time.

Once again, I figured wrong.

Of the 20 ecommerce sites, both b-to-b and b-to-c, I visited, only four had some sort of disclaimer on their home page.

Office supplies cataloguer/retailer Staples placed its message front and centre, just below its logo: "Your order will not be affected by any Royal Mail strike action. For your peace of mind, remember that your order is NOT delivered by Royal Mail and will continue to be delivered next day as usual."

On the other three websites, the messages appeared below the fold. Even so, they were difficult to miss. Fashion etailer Asos went with a bold albeit somewhat ungrammatical "Royal Mail Strikes Delivery Unaffected". Fellow apparel merchant Cotton Traders, which caters to an older audience, posted a genteel "For complete confidence your order will be delivered by private courier". And general merchandiser Littlewoods tied its message to a reminder that "Standard delivery is free on all orders. Don't forget... our deliveries are not affected by any postal strikes".

So of my informal survey, 20 percent of the websites were addressing what is undoubtedly a concern of many consumers. As for the other 16 websites, several of them (Amazon.co.uk, Marks & Spencer, and Liberty) prominently promoted free shipping offers, but they didn't reassure shoppers that the orders would actually arrive. For the others, it was business as usual.

Some of these companies may still be scrambling for delivery alternatives and therefore can't promise uninterrupted service. But department store John Lewis issued a statement this week stating that it has switched its parcel deliveries to other carriers--so why not post this info on its website?

Maybe John Lewis and some of the others are afraid that by mentioning the strikes on their sites, they're planting a fear in the minds of consumers and that therefore the less said the better. Or maybe they feel it's too early to start pounding the message.

A former editor of mine said that when writing a feature or a presentation, you should "tell the audience what you're going to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you told them". In other words, you can't repeat your message too early or too often. For consumers who are already a bit hesitant about parting with their hard-earned money, it's not too early to reassure them that they'll actually receive the merchandise they've opted to spring for.--SC

Royal Mail v the CWU: misconceptions and misdemeanors

News that the Communication Workers Union (CWU) had voted to strike against Royal Mail raced through the ECMOD conference like Caster Semenya after several cups of Red Bull-spiked cappuccino. That’s no surprise, given that just about everyone attending ECMOD--the UK’s annual conference for cataloguers and other direct sellers--would be affected.

A few talking points:

* Reports that three-quarters of CWU members voted to strike are erroneous. Yes, 61,623 out of 80,830 members voted in favour: 76.2 percent. But 121,000 members were balloted; 40,170 members did not vote. Many observers say that in union votes, members who abstain tend to disagree with the union leadership but fear casting an opposing vote. In other words, of the one-third of members who did not vote, the majority are likely to be against a strike. But even if you don’t want to make that assumption, the fact is that only 51 percent of the CWU members voted to strike--hardly a mandate. And that doesn’t even take into consideration the 20,000 postal workers who, according to Royal Mail, aren’t even CWU members.

* Mainstream media outlets are rushing out with articles offering alternatives to Royal Mail. But while alternative parcel carriers exist--and direct marketers will no doubt be hearing from them in droves--no viable options exist for getting catalogues and other print marketing pieces to customers and prospects. The Wednesday morning ECMOD session “Mail and Parcel Options--The Lowdown”, featuring a panel of carriers and consultants, was in fact misleadingly titled.

Panelist Andrew Goddard, national sales director of TNT Post, which provides downstream access (DSA) services into the Royal Mail mail stream--drop-shipping post so that Royal Mail is responsible only for the proverbial “final mile”--emphasised that cataloguers that avail themselves of DSA services would get their catalogues delivered faster in the event of a strike than those that don’t, because their post will be that much closer to their final destination. But when I asked the session participants point-blank, "What alternatives for catalogue delivery can any of you offer should there be a Royal Mail strike?" they had to admit that there were none. As Graham Cooper, managing director of postal solutions provider Onepost, said, “There’s no magic solution if there’s a mail strike.”

(As an aside, TNT’s Goddard said that his company is working toward unveiling next year an end-to-end service that would include final-mile delivery to about 50 percent of the country.)

* Cataloguers aren’t even certain what contingencies to plan for. Numerous mailers that rely on Royal Mail to deliver some or all of their packages are busy contacting independent carriers. David Price, managing director of multititle mailer Foot Shop, uses Royal Mail to deliver parcels for its Cosyfeet catalogue. Another of its brands, Walk Tall, uses Parcelforce, so Price can shift its Cosyfeet volume to Parcelforce relatively simply. Other companies may have to work harder to find alternatives, however. Parcel carriers have only so much capacity, and cataloguers, particularly smaller ones, might not be able to negotiate terms as favourable as those they have with Royal Mail.

As for their catalogue mailings, in what for the vast majority of business-to-consumer merchants is the critical selling season, the fact that it’s not yet known where and when the strikes will occur makes planning that much trickier. Most at ECMOD assumed that the CWU would conduct 48-hour rolling strikes at differing locations and facilities as it had during the strikes of 2007, rather than a simultaneous nationwide walkout. So should they go ahead with their holiday campaigns and hope that the catalogues arrived in homes eventually--the old “better late than never” philosophy? Should they reduce circulation? Eliminate entire mailings? Graham Winn, owner of gifts mailer Flowercard, said he was “looking at potentially cutting our risk by reducing our acquisition plan”. Unfortunately he’d been planning a big prospecting and sales push for Christmas, so that sales for the season would exceed turnover for all of last year.

* Attendees were hugely sympathetic with Royal Mail. Cataloguers rarely hesitate to criticise Royal Mail. But at ECMOD nearly all of them vented their spleen toward the CWU and sided with Royal Mail and its modernisation efforts. (We'd already done so, pretty much calling CWU leaders a bunch of babies in a post last month.)

Interestingly, two of the panelists at the session “UK Brands Taking the USA by Storm” compared the US Postal Service unfavourably to Royal Mail, with Long Tall Sally chief executive Andrew Shapin calling USPS “a total nightmare” because of its sluggishness and unreliability. If Royal Mail can take any consolation in the ongoing follies, it’s that mailers are finally beginning to show the organisation some love.--SC

Underpromise and overdeliver

Last week I bought some aftershave for my other half from CheapSmells.com. Though I was a little put off by the name, the website was a joy to use: I could order the item I wanted quickly and easily, and the delivery terms stated that I could expect my order within two to three days. I placed the order late on Wednesday night, expecting it to arrive Monday or Tuesday. My parcel arrived on Wednesday, almost a week after I had placed the order. Whilst it wasn’t an urgent purchase this time, if it were a birthday gift I would have had some explaining to do. Maybe CheapSmells would be better off changing its delivery promise to three to four days. That way, it would outperform expectations if the item is delivered within two days’ time, making for a happier customer.

Making me a happy customer is exactly what apparel retailer 3Sums did this week. I placed an order for a pair of trainers during my lunch break yesterday and took advantage of 3Sums’ standard free delivery. My order confirmation stated that I should expect to receive my shoes with two to five working days. So imagine my surprise when the postman delivered the parcel today, less than 24 hours after I clicked buy now. Now that’s how to underpromise and overdeliver!—MT

Better than a poke in the eye

Do you remember back in March we posted a news item that Dwell was not delivering to the south west of England? Well, it looks like the furniture cataloguer has had a change of heart about barring residents of the Westcountry from ordering its wares. In a recent email it announced to customers: “Don't forget we now deliver to Devon and Cornwall every third weekend of the month...” Well at least it’s something.—MT