1. Introduction: .................................................................................................... 1

2. Customer-orientated approach:......................................................................... 2

3. SWOT analysis: ............................................................................................... 4

4. Differentiation in B2B and B2C services: ........................................................ 5

4.1. Parcelforce Worldwide’s B2B services: ..................................................... 6

4.2. Parcelforce Worldwide’s B2C services: ..................................................... 7

5. Conclusion: ...................................................................................................... 8

Reference: ........................................................................................................... 9





 
  

 
 























1. Introduction:

Parcelforce Worldwide is a courier and logistics service in the United Kingdom.

Parcelforce Worldwide is a trading name of Royal Mail Group Ltd.,

Competing in an open market, Parcelforce Worldwide recognise that customers have

their own choices, so it aims to offer all customers with high quality and fairly priced
services, no matter their size. It operates Business to Business (B2B) services, which
deliver parcels and supplies from companies to other companies, together with
Business to Consumer (B2C) services to deliver parcels to individuals in their homes
around the UK.

For over 14 years, Parcelforce Worldwide has provided a vital link for British
businesses needing to send express shipments internationally and in the UK.

In its home country, Parcelforce Worldwide delivers some 150,000 packages, or

parcels, daily. It operates from a network of about 50 depots and two national hubs,
and it maintains a fleet of some 1,700 vehicles.

With UK companies taking advantage of the weak pound to seek out new market
opportunities, Parcelforce Worldwide has seen strong export growth across the world.
Exporting hotspots include EU ‘accession’ countries in Eastern Europe, major Asian
destinations and Western Europe, where there has been a marked increase in the
amount of parcels sent from the UK.

Parcelforce Worldwide is expected to make further good progress in 2010, with

operating profit rising from £12 million to £17 milion despite continuing decline in
mail markets in the UK and around the world, and a harsh economic climate.

Parcel force is in dire of improving some of it services so as to fall in line with the
increasingly competitive environment today. The major ways in which it can do this
is through improvement of its service provision through customer relationship
management and also through sound technology. (Robert 2010)

Parcelforce Worldwide has completed a series of new initiatives, from

reduced automated call handling to the development of a timed task force, to put
customer service at the heart of its business.

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Customer orientation requires organizational changes and increased level of product

quality in order to gain competitive advantage. Those requirements are supported by
SWOT analysis and differentiation as its strategy.

2. Customer-orientated approach:

Customer-orientated approach operates the business according to the needs of

customers. The job is not to find the right customers for your products, but to find the
right products for your customers. The key to achieving organizational goals is being
more effective than competitors in creating, delivering, and communicating superior
customer value to your chosen target markets. (Koter and Keller 2009)

In 2002 Parcelforce Worldwide launched its turnaround strategy to maintain its

position in an increasingly competitive marketplace. In order to increase the value of
each delivery, Parcelforce Worldwide decided to change the type of service it offered
from unguaranteed parcel deliveries typically taking between two and four days to
focus on time and day guaranteed, express delivery. (Health 2006)

For creating superior customer value, we can see how Parcelforce Worldwide aims to:

Focus on value: The business believes that as long as customers believe the benefits
they receive outweigh the costs they have paid, they will consider they have received
value, and they will be satisfied.

Look through customers’ eyes: Parcelforce regularly ask their customers what they
want and continuously develop their services to ensure that they meet and exceed
their requirements. Everything they do is driven by their customers, from new
services to continuous investment in customer service excellence and IT.

Make customers successful: Parcelforce Worldwide places an emphasis on retaining

its existing customers. Its key objective is to have satisfied customers, who will use
the service again in the future. Parcelforce Worldwide recognises that its people are a
key element in delivering customer satisfaction. All staff must be committed to a
customer-orientated culture. This means that employees need appropriate training to
ensure they have the skills to meet customer needs.

Give them something extra: Parcelforce Worldwide was the first express carrier in the
UK to give its customers the option of sending their parcels carbon-free. Besides,

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there are other environmental programmes, such as Woodland Carbon option, Energy
Efficiency or Waste and Recycling. “At Parcelforce Worldwide, we realise that we’re
delivering more than parcels.”

In delivering customers value, researches have discovered superior value delivery

will concentrate on ways to meet or understand customer’s needs, solve produce use
problems and be pivotal in building strong customer satisfaction. In addition,
customer value delivery can satisfy customer demand, make customer satisfied and
leads to customer loyal in consumption experience. (Woodruff and Gardial 1996)
Parcelforce Worldwide is the UK’s leading provider of time guaranteed express
deliveries. Parcelforce Worldwide are able to offer customers a high quality same day
service delivered in partnership with Royal Mail. Same day is just that – a same day
courier service that gets your urgent items collected and delivered almost anywhere in
the UK (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), on the same day.

By concentrating on adding value to our services. Parcelforce Worldwide has

continued to grow throughout the recession when most of our competitors have
experienced a reduction in turnover and profit, every one of our services has grown
year-on-year as customers switch traffic to us because of recommendation, excellent
value for money and security. (Magorrian 2010)

Communicating superior customer value, extensive feedback gathered from ongoing

monthly surveys across 20,000 B2B and B2C contract customers has led to a
number of new initiatives to improve access to local managers, reduce response times
and offer proactive parcel updates such as:

9 Direct access to someone who can help

9 Faster response to email enquiries
9 A unique Timed Task Force
9 7 days a week call centre opening

The business is also providing 500 of its staff with comprehensive training
on an ongoing basis to continue its drive to resolve enquiries as quickly
and effectively as possible. New reporting tools across the business allow
our teams to anticipate potential issues and resolve them before they escalate.
(Callcentreclinic 2010)

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Parcelforce shows the people of UK how personalised their services have become.
This can be achieved through a series of advertisements and effective campaigns that
can be displayed though common media outlets that included television, radio and the
internet. Customer relationship management entail sound coordination of both the
employees and the staff members involved in the process. This is an aspect that will
be duly achieved though effective training on the part of the employee and more
focus on the client.

3. SWOT analysis:

A SWOT analysis can help a business to improve by monitoring the external and
internal marketing environment. (Koter and Keller 2009, 89-92)

Aim of a SWOT Analysis:

9 Reveal your competitive advantages

9 Analyze your prospects for sales, profitability and product development
9 Prepare your company for problems
9 Allow for the development of contingency plans

Below is Parcelforce Worldwide’s SWOT analysis table.

POSITIVE/ HELPFUL NEGATIVE/ HARMFUL

to achieving the goal
to achieving the goal

INTERNAL Strengths Weaknesses

Origin facts/ factors - Operational strategies to improve - The efficiency of the site is
of the organization its efficiency and meet customer weak, according to
needs better. feedback , there is a lot of
problems sometimes
- Promotional strategies to
tracking packages.
strengthen its brand presence in key
markets .

- Growth strategies to expand its

business outside its core national
markets.

- Parcelforce Worldwide are the

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express parcels business of Royal

Mail Group Ltd.

- Pracelforce is following a very

effective CSR programes.

EXTERNAL Origin Opportunities Threats

facts/ factors of the - following CSR programes is going -Operating in a free market,
environment in which to keep Pracelforce reputation good, which makes the
the organization and make customers look away from competition high.
operates the small weaknesses parts they have
in the service.

4. Differentiation in B2B and B2C services:

Differentiation is one of three generic strategies, which provide a good starting point
for strategic thinking, proposed by Michael Porter.

A differentiation strategy calls for the development of a product or service that offers
unique attributes that are valued by customers and that customers perceive to be
better than or different from the products of the competition.

Parcelforce Worldwide has differentiated its products by offering services that offer a
balance and choice between speed and value for money. Its express service leads on
speed; its non-urgent product leads on price. Depending on various kinds of
requirements, it provides six reliable options for parcel deliveries within the UK and

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another six ones for international destinations. Parcelforce Worldwide pursues a

competitive prices compare with other courier services.

(Parcel weighing 5kg)

PARCELFORCE WORLDWIDE DHL

Parcelforce Worldwide 24hr = £18.99 1-2 day delivery schedule = £22.00

Parcelforce Worldwide 48hr = £14.99
Parcelforce Worldwide by noon = £19.99

(Ciao n.d.)

This clearly sets Parcelforce Worldwide as the price leader in the non-urgent sector.

4.1. Parcelforce Worldwide’s B2B services:

Business to business (B2B) describes commerce transactions between businesses,

such as between a manufacturer and a wholesaler, or between a wholesaler and a
retailer. (Wikipedia n.d.) B2B is characterized by (1) relatively large volumes, (2)
competitive and stable prices, (3) fast delivery times and, often, (4) on deferred
payment basis. (Business Dictionary n.d.)

The business provides 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.

Parcelforce Worldwide is able to negotiate prices with business customers based on

their exact sending profile (for example, volumes, weights, destinations).

Parcelforce Worldwide's development of key partnerships has played a part in

improving its service. Its network partner GLS is an unrivalled road-based European
network that deals with specific day guaranteed deliveries. It consists of 23 parcel
delivery companies covering five million kilometres in 30 countries across Europe.
GLS provides Parcelforce Worldwide with the broadest delivery network and
capability across Europe. Parcelforce Worldwide is also part of the EMS network.

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From October 2010, to help exporter take advantage of overseas markets and to
support the UK’s economic recovery, Parcelforce Worldwide has launched a new
cost-effective international service - Global Bulk Direct - which allows businesses of
all sizes to deliver low-cost tracked exports to overseas customers. Global Bulk
Direct allows businesses to package multiple overseas deliveries into a single pallet,
rather than sending each one separately, in order to achieve significant cost-savings,
without compromising on security or losing tracking capability.

4.2. Parcelforce Worldwide’s B2C services:

Business-to-consumer (B2C, sometimes also called Business-to-Customer) describes

activities of businesses serving end consumers with products and/or services and
applies to any business or organization that sells its products or services to consumers
over the Internet for its own use. (Wikipedia n.d.)

Parcelforce Worldwide also has Business-to-Consumer services (B2C) for parcels

going from businesses to homes. This is driven by retailers and ‘etailers’ (online
retailers) sending mainly single parcels to consumers. Parcelforce Worldwide
comforts their online customers by a simple online booking system, reliable service
and competitive price with their “unrivalled network and leading technology”.

As its slogan “You click, we collect”, customers simply enter Parcelforce

Worldwide’s website and all the instructions are right in front of them. There is no
need to register and the site is very easy to navigate. A simple, no-frills way of
arranging parcels to be sent both nationally and internationally. Customers can track
their parcels by a useful option – Track and Trace – where each step of parcels’
journey is recorded. They can use this tool with the Tracker Number noted at the top
of the page from printed receipt after the agent receive their parcels at home. This
was a very simple way of sending a larger item that could not possibly have gone
from local post offices, and which was dealt with in an extremely fast and efficient
manner. Plus, customers get a £1 discount on every delivery ordered online.

In 2009, in response to the changing needs of UK companies, has enhanced its

international portfolio to give its customers a greater range of services to meet their
specific global delivery needs. Customers will be able to match delivery options to
suit their needs, whether that is a fast, efficient, fully-trackable global service, a value

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tracked service for times when a lower price is more important than speed or a
balance of the two. Customers posting into Europe will also be able to choose
between tailored business and residential delivery services for the first time.

The new suite of six services is:

9 Global Express
9 Global Priority
9 Euro Priority Business
9 Euro Priority Home
9 Global Value
9 Global Bulk Direct

(Parcelforce Worldwide 2009)

5. Conclusion:

By analyzing Parcelforce Worldwide’s marketed orientation supported by its SWOT

and differentiating strategies, we can understand how Parcelforce Worldwide has
successfully turned around its business and is now a key player in the competitive,
unregulated, express parcels market in the last few years.

Together with improving the quality of service, especially the time-critical products,
it is now facing the challenge of building on these improvements and operating at
sustained levels of profitability. While the express industry is set to undergo drastic
transition driven by growing globalization deregulation of the postal sector, the wave
of mergers and alliances and the booming e-commerce industry, there is an increasing
focus on B2C, and commoditisation is also key to the B2B market.

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