Dixons is the first in the Netherlands: during Pauw & Witteman you can still order an iPad, and it will be at your home the next day. They have also arranged that you can order until Sunday afternoon four o'clock for delivery on Monday! How do those guys at BAS Group, which Dixons belongs to, do that? A director of that group recently said in Twinkle: 'I hop on my bike and I’m on my way.' Could it really be true?
Cut-off time increasingly laterIn terms of late so-called cut-off times, the Netherlands can call itself European champion. In the comparison that we made with webshops primarily from Germany and the UK, it turns out that we are a very industrious bunch when it comes to delivery times: you can order until 10:30 PM for delivery the next day at an increasing number of Dutch webshops, while in Germany and England the cutoff often falls at 12 or 4 PM. The English are sharper in that regard than the Germans, but 11:30 PM? No, as far as I know, that has not been seen in the Netherlands before.Are we not all driving each other crazy?This question is asked quite often, and I naturally wonder about it too: same day delivery has not yet been introduced or they have already organized delivery within 1.5 hours in the London area. Aren't those just gimmicks, nice to get on the front page with? If it has a right to exist and online buyers want to take advantage of and pay for these services, I’m perfectly fine with it. However, I don’t believe that 'ordered today, at home tomorrow' is a hype.Logistical gadget
It is of course very logical to make placing internet orders possible until around midnight. Isn't that the strength of online, 24/7? Isn't it great that the Dixons management has been able to arrange within their own distribution center and with carriers that orders placed until Sunday afternoon 4 PM are delivered on Monday? Why are there logistical achievements at Albert Heijn, Jumbo, McDonald's, and so on, but not in e-fulfillment?
UnachievableFor me, the service expansion of Dixons makes sense and you can see in this that logistics for e-commerce is maturing more and more. At the same time, it’s unachievable for most webshops to offer this service. Picking orders in the evening and on weekends could still be done (to say the least, it’s not easy), but there is no carrier that will do the pick-up at your webshop in the late evening or opens a delivery point at those times.Differences between large and small become more pronounced
The further logistics services go, the sharper the distinction between large and small webshops becomes. This is already true in other areas, such as webshop IT, marketing, purchasing power, and organization. And then this kind of logistical achievements come in addition. Calimero tears? Certainly not, in my opinion. Besides the super large webshops, there are many opportunities for smaller, often more specialized players. While they might not be able to join the race for 'ever later, for ever earlier', they have their own specific products, knowledge, and service in-house.
The bar has been raised a notch
Dixons, thank you. You have raised the bar a notch again. Compliments also, of course, to the logistics service providers with whom you have arranged this. I am curious who and what will follow.
Source: Twinklemagazine.nl
