Autumn 2009

A new standard for home delivery performance is set to emerge under the auspices of IMRG, the organisation representing the online retail market.

Following preparatory work by its delivery forum members over the past year, definitive agreement was reached in late summer to press ahead with the project. The intention is to come up with a final draft within months.

The idea of the standard, reported in previous issues of Fulfilment & e.logistics, is to help online retailers reassure would-be shoppers that they will definitely receive goods they order within the expected time span.

Like IMRG's existing IDIS (Internet Delivery Is Safe) approval scheme, the new standard will rely on self-certification by retailers; but the certification process is expected to be more rigorous than for IDIS, and will require retailers to commit to more specific delivery promises. A set of supporting benchmarks is now in preparation.

 

As with the IDIS and related ISIS scheme (Internet Shopping is Safe), companies who register but fail to conform will have their approval rescinded. IMRG says that over the years this has happened in its existing schemes with some dozens of retailers.

The organisation appears to recognise that past industry efforts to create meaningful home delivery standards have had only qualified success, and that despite apparent progress, delivery failures continue to dog the e-retail market. The new initiative is seen by some as a 'once and for all' attempt to address the issue effectively.

We've been asked to keep the detail of the standard and its proposed branding under wraps for the time being, but it is known that it will require certified retailers to offer 'the probability of first-time successful delivery', which implies support for a range of measures such as track and trace. Also prominent will be the requirement to support unattended delivery solutions to deal with the otherwise stubbornly intractable 'consumer not at home' problem.

The standard will attempt to take account of the different expectations implicit in one- and two-man deliveries, non-time definite deliveries and deliveries of 'make-to-order products' that may take time to arrive.

The hope is that the resultant standard will form a template that might be adopted throughout the direct shopping market, both in the UK and abroad.