Delivering Choice: Ensuring out-of-home delivery options benefit everyone

Delivering Choice: Ensuring out-of-home delivery options benefit everyone 483 KB

As parcel volumes have exploded in recent years, it has become apparent that home delivery does not always meet consumers’ needs. People are receiving more parcels than ever, but often need to be out during working hours, leading to missed deliveries, insecure drop-offs, or the inconvenience of waiting in.

In response, parcel companies have developed new out-of-home (OOH) delivery options for consumers to send and receive their parcels. 

This report finds OOH alternatives have become a significant part of people’s experience of the parcel market - with three quarters of respondents having used an OOH option in the last year. People value the option as it offers greater flexibility and security, at a lower price point, compared to home delivery. 

However, while OOH offers clear advantages, there’s a risk that not all consumers can access those benefits. We want this alternative to be as widely accessible as possible, and this means addressing  barriers facing rural and disabled users, in particular. 

Key recommendations: 

Monitoring - OOH options now represent a significant share of UK parcel deliveries. Ofcom must incorporate OOH delivery into both its annual market monitoring and its user experience tracker. They should seek to understand network coverage and consumer proximity to pick up and drop off points (PUDOs).

Accessibility - Parcel companies should work with disabled consumers to identify and rectify ongoing accessibility issues with PUDOs. Information on accessibility features must be readily available. Locker height is the main issue, so companies should have lower locker preferences available. 

Ofcom should begin assessing operators OOH options against Consumer Protection Condition 5, requiring fair and appropriate treatment of disabled customers.