13 July 2010 - - © Hellmail Postal News

Royal Mail announced today that it is to add almost a quarter of a million extra hours a year to the opening times of its busiest delivery offices. It said the extended hours would make it easier for people to receive items they have ordered online or from a catalogue.

The £2.6 million investment will see the hours of around 650 delivery offices - almost half of Royal Mail’s UK-wide network of 1,400 sites - extended to 8pm on Wednesday evenings and 2pm on Saturdays to make the collection of items even more convenient for people who are not at home during the day.

Tomorrow (Wednesday 14 July), more than 200 delivery offices will open their doors until 8pm and around 350 offices will join the programme later in the summer. This follows a successful trial at 100 delivery offices in May.

The investment in extended opening hours builds on the choices already available to people who are not at home when delivery is attempted. Customers can arrange a redelivery to their home or a neighbour via www.royalmail.com/redelivery or ask for items to be taken to a Post Office® branch, through a service called Local Collect.

David Smith, Managing Director of IMRG, the industry body for online retailing, said: "As a result of the close partnership between Royal Mail and the online retail industry, shoppers now have more control over the delivery of their items than ever before.

"More than half the UK adult population now shops online and this latest initiative provides even greater choice and convenience for them. It will help support even greater satisfaction levels and deliver an even more positive online shopping experience consumers."

Commenting on the extension of Royal Mail opening hours, Clare Gilmartin, MD of eBay UK said: "Flexible delivery options are hugely important to the digital economy as more and more people choose to shop online or via a mobile shopping app for the convenience it provides.

"Online businesses equally rely on dependable and flexible delivery services to maintain a good reputation and retain the loyalty of customers. The majority of the 140,000 businesses that sell via eBay use Royal Mail as their delivery provider and the extended opening hours announced today will be welcomed by the small and medium sized online business community."

Nigel Woods, postal expert at Consumer Focus said:

"By extending opening hours, Royal Mail has delivered a really welcome piece of news for its customers. Shopping online and irregular working patterns are features of modern life, so people need greater flexibility when it comes to receiving mail.

"Royal Mail must continue to look at other alternative delivery options to ensure it meets the needs of customers in the 21st century. These include nominated day of delivery, nominated time of delivery and deliveries to a secure locker at a nearby location."

Steve Lawson, editor for Hellmail Postal News welcomed the move:

"This will be good news for customers who increasingly are having to work longer hours - making access to parcels and other items difficult.

"However, its worth pointing out that many European countries already provide automated parcel stations that are open on a 24/7 basis so in this respect we still lag behind some other European states. Perhaps with further investment we could see similar facilities in the years ahead, but any extension to existing opening hours is to be welcomed and will I imagine form part of Royal Mail's efforts to modernise."

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