Yodel ‘Delay’ heehoo – Can The Couriers Keep Up?

30 years ago if I were to say the word yodel, people would think of a nice chap half way up a mountain in lederhosen doing his ‘yodelling’, however, now when the word yodel is mentioned people shiver with fear, why I hear you ask? Well, yodel no longer represents the fun loving guys who have the gift of yodelling, no, now yodel represents a growing trend, couriers who deliver (or attempt to!) our items who don’t quite live up to expectations.

This week, Yodel made the possibility of no Christmas parcels a reality. Yodel, the UK’s biggest delivery company after Royal Mail, has admitted that it has stopped collecting parcels from retailers as it struggles to deliver the vast volume of online present shopping.

After frantic spending on Black Friday at the end of November – when 24-hour promotions pushed sales 50% higher than expected – and the festive rush in online orders that peaked on Monday, shoppers now face a wait to see if gifts and parcels arrive in time for Christmas. Yesterday, as it halted parcel pickups, Yodel said deliveries were taking three days longer than had been planned.

Dan Wagner founder and CEO of retail and ecommerce specialist company Powa Technologies says;

“Consumers are changing the way they shop and are no longer waiting for retailers to come up with the best deals. They are more selective and savvy with their buying decisions, and more demanding in how they receive their purchases.”

“Shopping events like Cyber Monday, originally a creation of the retail industry and an import from the US, are now moving the milestones of when the peak gift buying season begins, fuelled by the widespread access to smartphones and tablets this year. The delivery infrastructure must now quickly catch up to address this fundamental shift in retailing, for what is the busiest time of year.”

However, don’t be too harsh on them it is Christmas after all and we’re almost certain that they would rather be half way up a mountain at this very given time!