How the carrier services have been impacted this week
We understand that COVID-19 has caused widespread disruption and difficulty to both your company and your everyday life. At ZigZag we are working tirelessly to reduce the impact it has on your returns process and the disruption felt by your customers.
Keeping you informed is paramount to limiting this disruption. ZigZag is receiving updates from our platform carriers as delivery locations close, regions go on lockdown, delays become apparent, and rates change. Here’s what has happened in logistics over the last week:
Store closures worldwide
Particularly across France, Spain and Italy, with the UK gradually following suit throughout the week following Boris Johnson’s Monday lockdown. This of course means many if not all shops are unavailable for in-store returns.
Price changes are becoming more common
Carrier services worldwide are being forced to pass on some of the additional costs rising from the pandemic. Whilst many have yet to confirm price changes, most are expecting to imminently.
Deutsche Post has announced small price changes for deliveries to and from the US, with other journeys outside of Germany likely to be affected in the near future.
DHL will levy an Emergency Situation Surcharge from the 1st April for all Time Definite International shipments.
APG are unlikely to be able to sustain the services they have been providing at the same price and same transit times as numerous flight cancellations have resulted in to increased linehaul costs for all airlines.
Royal Mail has increased its prices for 2020 and beyond however it is not a measure taken in response to the coronavirus.
Minor delays will become the new norm
Australian Post are still fully operational across Australia during government restrictions on non-essential activity, although some delays should be expected for international mail and services.
Yodel at present is still operating as normal across their UK network with no Service Centre closures, although delays should be expected for international deliveries to regions with travel restrictions.
NZ Post are still processing international deliveries, both sending and receiving, but delays should be expected.
LA Post are currently experiencing slightly longer delays than their European counterparts due to more extensive shop and postal sorting centres closures.
DPD has reported “that our service levels remain excellent and our network service is over 99.9% with a first time delivery success rate of 98%.”
Royal Mail has “suspended the 1pm time guarantee on Special Delivery and deploying non-operational managers in Delivery…it is likely that some areas of the country will experience a reduction in service levels due to coronavirus-related absences at their local mail centre or delivery office.”
Suspension of all postal services
A number of countries have temporarily suspended all international deliveries including but not limited to: Cayman Islands, Maldives, Philippines, Samoa, Tunisia, Yemen, Djibouti, Ecuador, French Polynesia, Kuwait, Libya, Moldavia, Mongolia, Peru, Somalia, Sri Lanka, New Caledonia, Montenegro, Mauritania, North-Macedonia, Honduras, Madagascar, South Africa, Samoa
If you would like to discuss any of the above, please feel free to contact us directly at hello@zigzag.global.
If there is anything else we can do to support you during this testing time or you’d like to stop receiving these updates, then please do get in touch.
And of course, most importantly, we hope you and your family stay safe and healthy!