Have flexible working patterns changed delivery practices?

Cast your mind back to February 2021 – most were in the office and hardly anyone was working at home. Since March 2021, it has been the opposite. Offices have been closed and nearly everyone that could work from home has done so. As restrictions have lifted and some normality has returned, things have not gone back to the old ways. Many more people are still working from home and office working numbers have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. Have you ever thought how this shift in working patterns has actually changed the delivery industry and forced it to adapt? Our latest blog posts takes a closer look at this.

There is now a greater demand for couriers – especially serving domestic places.

With the combination of more people working from home because of the pandemic, or just more people working from home generally, it is giving people greater opportunity for the need to order items for their personal use or their business. The result of this is that couriers have reported a big uptick in domestic deliveries since the pandemic started, and this shows little signs of slowing down.

The same ‘domestic problems’ still exist however…

Just because people are working from home more, doesn’t mean they are available more, and certainly in some cases this stretches to answering the door. If you are expecting parcels to be delivered at home, try to make the best possible arrangements so you or someone nominated can receive them. This reduces the risk of items going astray (or worse still,) theft of items. Increase in domestic deliveries is great news for thieves, and as Christmas approaches and the days get darker, this is even more prevalent.

What about the office or the business address?

As the demand for domestic deliveries has increased, it is counter balanced by the fact that business deliveries have decline. This is not true for everyone however. Some businesses can’t work or operate with their employees at home. Therefore, their premises are still operational and having routine deliveries, so couriers haven’t suddenly stopped delivering to business locations totally.

Forgot the business is not opened because everyone is at home? Be careful

If your business allows you and your employees to work from home, many can access files and accounts remotely as if they were in the office. When it comes to ordering and receiving deliveries this can cause problems. If your business account is set up at your business address and is automatically remembered when you sign in, you could be unknowingly and unintentionally sending parcels to an address where no one is there to be able to receive it. Couriers have reported this happening a lot during the pandemic and while there is greater emphasis on working from home. To avoid unnecessary delays and hassle, make sure your address settings are updated to where you are located at the time of the order.

Adaptation 

The pandemic and subsequent time period has been a time of adaptation and change for couriers when it comes to deliveries. As same day couriers, we here at Rock Solid Deliveries are used to a wide range of situations where delivery needs, and expectations need to be met. Adapting, evolving and keeping up with changes in time, is something a business needs to do to survive – couriers are no exception to this, and need to follow the adjusted behaviour of the customer, whether that be temporary or for a longer period.

Wondering where we deliver or whether we serve your area? Have a look at our locations page to see our geographics of operation.