Parcel force Worldwide is part of the Royal Mail Group and is a leading provider of express parcel deliveries. It provides a range of services including a guaranteed delivery on certain times or days. Parcelforce Worldwide uses a network of international partners to extend its reach beyond the UK to 99.6% of the world population.
Parcelforce Worldwide delivers around 210,000 parcels a day and operates in three distinct markets:
* Business-to-Business services (B2B) – the transportation of parcels and supplies from one company or commercial venture to another. For example, this could be a manufacturer sending to a wholesaler or a wholesaler sending to a retailer. These are likely to be repeat orders to re-stock a supply chain.
* Business-to-Consumer services (B2C) – parcels going from businesses to homes. This is driven by retailers and ‘etailers’ (online retailers) sending mainly single parcels to consumers.
* Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) – parcels going from one home address to another. This could be people sending Christmas or birthday presents or ebay parcels through a Post Office or ordering a collection on the Parcelforce Worldwide website.
In the last few years Parcelforce Worldwide has made big changes to improve its business. It has improved its quality of service by focusing on time-critical products. This reduced the number of parcels handled (the volume) but increased the value of each delivery. Parcelforce Worldwide is now a key player in the market.
In 2007, an analysis of a customer research survey showed Parcelforce Worldwide needed to improve its international services. It also needed to change its marketing to respond to an increase in competition and changes in the external environment. This case study explores how this was achieved using the marketing mix or 4Ps. Read more…