Families are set to ‘ditch home delivery as it isn’t eco-friendly enough and instead will collect packages themselves from the shops’
- Yodel’s Mike Hancox predicts people will be ‘less obsessed’ with home delivery
Shoppers will go off the idea of having packages delivered directly to their home because of the environmental cost, according to an industry leader.
Mike Hancox, chief executive of parcel firm Yodel, said collection points in shops and petrol stations were ‘a much more efficient network’ for moving goods.
The final mile of delivery – when a package is transported to a consumer’s doorstep – was very challenging, he added.
‘Dropping off ten parcels at a shop will allow the industry to deliver more parcels efficiently and I think eventually that’s what’s going to happen’, Mr Hancox said.
‘People will be less obsessed with home delivery. They will become more aware of the sustainability argument for why they should go to a shop and pick up five parcels in one visit.’
Mike Hancox, chief executive of parcel firm Yodel, said collection points in shops and petrol stations were ‘a much more efficient network’ for moving goods (file photo)
Yodel has recorded a ‘significant acceleration’ in the number of parcels it delivers to its 5,500 pick-up and drop-off (Pudo) locations, Mr Hancox said.
The company expects to deliver 40million packages this way in the year to the end of June. It delivered 25million parcels to Pudo points during the last 12 months and Mr Hancox said they are becoming ‘the preferred choice’.
Mr Hancox added: ‘It gives the consumer the convenience they want. They’re probably going into a store anyway.
‘With the growth of e-commerce through the pandemic, it’s become increasingly apparent to people that having five diesel vans go up a cul-de-sac all delivering one parcel is not particularly efficient for the carriers or for the environment.
‘It’s much better to have all five parcels dropped off at a location that you go and collect from when you’re ready.’
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In addition to the impact on the environment from online shopping deliveries, there are also concerns about the effect on congestion.
Latest Department for Transport figures show the estimated number of miles travelled by vans in the year ending September 2022 was 59.5 billion, representing an 11.2 per cent rise compared with pre-coronavirus levels.
That is compared with an 8.8 per cent decrease for cars.
Mr Hancox said The Very Group – the company behind the Littlewoods and Very brands – is one of the few online retailers to offer financial incentives to consumers ordering purchases to collection points.
‘Other retailers don’t do that and even if I offered them a lower price, they’d just price it the same (to their customers),’ he said.
‘They’re just making more margin.
‘So it’s difficult for me to offer the incentives. I would say the burden is on the retailer to decide whether they want to enhance their own green credentials by having an incentive on Pudo.’
Mr Hancox said the company is investing £14.5 million in its fleet, with the purchase of 120 new double-decker trailers and 45 new tractor units, which haul trailers.
He said this is partly to boost capacity in response to ‘very strong’ demand.
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