Royal Mail today announces the extension of its 15 year relationship with ASOS, the global fashion destination for 20-somethings. Royal Mail has been awarded a new contract to deliver customer orders for ASOS. It has also extended its capacity to handle the brand’s customer returns by 25 per cent. 

Royal Mail currently handles around 75 per cent of ASOS customer returns. With the extension of the contract, Royal Mail is increasing its capacity by one million items so the network can carry up to five million customer return parcels per year. The new contract and extension of the existing relationship were driven by Royal Mail’s ability to handle significant increases in volume during peak periods. 

Supporting e-commerce

Royal Mail research has revealed that nearly one in six consumers does virtually all their shopping online. It also found that the returns service offered by a retailer is increasingly a point of differentiation; seven in ten (72 per cent) of UK shoppers said they would be unlikely to shop with a retailer again if they had a difficult returns experience. 

ASOS offers free returns to all UK customers and is constantly innovating to make returns faster, more effective and easier for shoppers. By selecting Royal Mail, ASOS customers can complete their returns through 11,500 Post Office outlets, the largest network of any of the ASOS return options. 

ASOS is one of the first retailers to make full use of Royal Mail’s Returns Portal and has incorporated it into the ASOS website. The Tracked Returns service gives ASOS and its customers access to tracking along key stages of the parcel journey, including confirmed delivery to the ASOS Returns Processing Centre, enabling the acceleration of returns processing and the resale of its products.

Nick Landon, Managing Director Royal Mail Parcels, said: “Royal Mail is committed to supporting the growth of e-commerce in the UK by continually developing and improving the services we offer to retailers and their customers. We are delighted to have extended this important relationship with ASOS. Over the last 15 years, we have supported the ASOS brand promise, provided additional capacity to support their growth and now, with continued innovation, we are giving more control to ASOS and its customers.”

Source: Royal Mail Group