Royal Mail research reveals massive growth in UK e-commerce

The number of online-only e-retailing business has more than doubled in the past five years from 6,700 in 2008 to 14,400 in 2012, according to a nationwide study commissioned by Royal Mail. While the number of businesses contributing to the British economy fell an annual average of 0.4% for the years covered, the number of companies selling goods online saw a staggering 21.3% average annual growth. 

Speaking of the study, Managing Director of Royal Mail Parcels Nick Landon commented: "Online-only e-retailing has become an increasingly strong area for business start-ups and is making a strong contribution to the overall UK economy. With continued growth in online shopping, we can expect more significant contributions to the UK economy in current years."

Online sales are also way ahead of the retail sector as a whole, according to a recent CEBR study of ONS data: e-retailing grew by almost 50% while the total retail sector saw only 13.6% growth. Given that increased online sales means increased demand for postage and delivery Royal Mail are set to take advantage of this increase as part of their growth strategy. Courier services resellers such as Transglobal Express are are also set to benefit from this increase, given that their highly competitive rates for services such as UPS, DHL Express and TNT can rival Royal Mail in terms of price and service, as well as offering much lower costs than customers would incur by booking directly with the courier. 

DHL CEO Frank Appel & the readiness to learn from the Eurozone Crisis

The television news channel, CNN, recently conducted an interview with Frank Appel, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL questioning the head of the world’s largest logistics company and parcel services provider about the collapse of the Eurozone.

When being asked about the current economic crisis, Appel stated that one could not prepare for  the collapse of the Euro. However, the DHL’s CEO also made clear that his 470,000 staff in over 220 countries has to be put first.

“At the end of the day a service company is nothing more than the employees who serve the customers”, said Frank Appel. It would be crucial to give [his employees] a long-term perspective.

Beyond that, he admitted “live more cautious about the predictability of the future”. Yet, Appel pointed out that he thinks little off scenario planning.

He said that “if you think your Excel spread-sheet will tell you what will happen in the future, it will only distract you from what is really important – to be ready to take action.”

With our without the Euro, Apple agrees that at the end of the day “somebody has to deliver parcels and somebody has to deliver or transport containers around the world.”

Appel emphasised the importance of showing “a readiness to learn” despite having to do "some hardship in the beginning" in order to enable success in the European economy.

Watch the CNN interview with the CEO of DHL Deutsche Post, Frank Appel, below.

Source: CNN

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