Postal Hub podcast

Cathy Morrow Roberson analyses grocery delivery, including:

• Target's acquisition of Grand Central and Shipt
• Integrating these acquisitions under the Target brand
• Target's history with Amazon
• Walmart's acquisition of delivery startup Parcel
• Walmart testing other delivery partners
• Kroger's deal with Ocado
• The factors that will determine the winners in online grocery e-commerce
• The shopping experience and the delivery experience
• Packaging - how to ensure groceries arrive intact

Marek RÃÆ'³Å¼ycki, Managing Partner at Last Mile Experts, joins me to talk about out-of-home delivery options. We cover:

• Out-of-home delivery trends in Estonia
• Parcel lockers in retail networks
• Amazon's in-car delivery via Amazon Key
• Shortcomings of in-car delivery
• Cost-savings and environmental concerns
• Improving security of in-car delivery
• DPD Netherlands' ParcelLetter service
• Proving non-signature delivery success
• E-commerce parcel returns

Rajeeb Chowdhury, Chief of Planning and Customer Service at NAQEL Express, joins me to talk about delivery in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Region. We cover:

• The challenges of B2C delivery in Saudi Arabia
• Cultural factors affecting residential delivery
• Cash on delivery
• E-commerce returns
• Local e-commerce platforms
• Cross-border shipping into the Gulf Region
• Parcel tracking - and tracking the driver!
• Handling failed first-time deliveries

In this exclusive interview, Ukrposhta COO Oleks Pertsovskyi discusses delivery in Ukraine:

• Ukrposhta's delivery obligations
• Letter volume trends in Ukraine, including strategies to stabilise letter volumes in some segments
• Last mile delivery of letters and parcels (and cash!)
• Parcel collection at the post office
• E-commerce parcel volumes, domestic and cross-border
• Speed of cross-border deliveries
• Partnerships with other posts and logistics companies
• Taxes on in-bound cross-border parcels
• The size and composition of the Ukrposhta delivery fleet

Azhar Hussain, CEO of Hanhaa, talks about next generation parcel tracking and monitoring, along with the tech in Hanhaa's ParceLive product. We cover:

• Monitoring parcels in real time
• Identifying problems in the delivery chain
• Insuring parcels
• Proof of delivery
• Predicting delivery failure
• Cross-border parcel monitoring
• Data standards

Dean Maciuba, Managing Partner North America for Last Mile Experts, joins me to discuss FedEx, Walmart, e-commerce returns, PUDO networks, the post office, and more!

• FedEx Office's deal with Walmart:
  • Background to the deal
  • Comparisons with other PUDO networks
  • What the deal means for e-commerce returns
• FedEx's renewed emphasis on e-commerce returns
• Integrating returns through FedEx's transportation channel
• Competition in e-commerce returns
• Cross-border returns
• Printing returns labels - different solutions
• Free returns
• The post office network and returns
• Retailers that reject returns from customers

Postal expert and qualified drone pilot Richard Wishart joins me to discuss delivery by drone, including:

• How to become a drone pilot
• Use cases for delivery drones
• How UPS, Swiss Post, and Iceland Post are delivering by drone
• Roadblocks to drone delivery becoming viable
• Autonomous delivery
• The role of the post in regulatory change
• Safety

Marshall Hughes, co-founder and CEO of on-demand delivery startup Passel joins me to talk about crowd-sourced delivery. We cover:

• Early learnings from the Passel model
• Integrating crowd-sourced with contracted courier companies
• Gig economy vs crowd-sourced delivery
• "Standard" delivery vs "gig" delivery
• Expansion and the density of the crowd
• Key delivery challenges in Australia
• Localised e-commerce fulfilment
• FOMO! Passel's partnership with location-based retail app Brauz

Sam Clarke, founder of all-electric delivery firm Gnewt Cargo, on using electric vehicles in the last mile:

• Why Gnewt Cargo was founded and how it expanded
• Electric vehicles and congestion charges
• Legislative restrictions affecting diesel vehicles
• Making electric vehicle delivery working in the real world
• What the acquisition by John Menzies PLC means for Gnewt's future, including expansion
• City logistics - consolidation of last mile delivery in city centres
• The vehicle types in the Gnewt fleet
• Are electric vehicles a viable alternative to conventionally-fuelled vehicles?

ChloÃÆ'« Thomas from the eCommerce Masterplan joins me to give an e-commerce perspective on delivery. We cover:

• The importance of delivery to e-commerce
• What can be done about "free" delivery
• Customer expectations of delivery in peak periods
• Quality of delivery (including presentation of courier drivers) and how it relates to the e-commerce experience
• Unboxing! (It's a thing, and you need to know about it.)
• Branding on boxes... and the security implications
• Environment issues for e-commerce retailers
• In-flight customer notifications
• Do delivery companies help e-commerce businesses grow?