Very boosts delivery options as 'golden' shopping season looms

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Aug 24, 2021

Very.co.uk has extended its next-day-delivery cut-off for customer orders from 7pm to 10pm, courtesy of automated technology at its Skygate fulfilment centre. The company said the new cut-off time is “among the best in UK retail”.

It may only be an extra three hours, but as the retail sector prepares for the ‘Golden Quarter’, including Black Friday and Christmas, it could be a game-changer.

After 2020 was impacted by the pandemic, retailers will be holding out big hopes for the 2021 season and every small advantage Will be crucial when it comes to getting customers to click the checkout button.

The relentless rise of Amazon has already shown how extra-fast delivery can make a massive difference when it comes to the retailers customers choose, particularly if the choice is between companies selling the same items.

Very said Skygate’s automated sorting, selection, advanced picking and single or multi-order packaging technology has orders ready for dispatch within 30 minutes, compared to around four hours at its previous fulfilment centres. The fastest order to date, processed during Black Friday 2020,  was ready for dispatch in just 18 minutes.

The company also recently migrated clothing and footwear returns to Skygate, with returned product now available for resale within 30 minutes and refunds being provided faster than before. That's another crucial point during key shopping seasons as the ability to return items and get their money back quickly could also sway customers when they're trying to decide whether to buy or not.

Very COO Phil Hackney said: “Fast delivery is vital for a great customer experience, and that’s what we focused on when developing Skygate’s technology. Throughout the pandemic, we’ve managed huge volumes of orders and extending the cut off time was the next natural step.

“A later cut-off for next-day delivery gives even greater convenience to our customers and we’re particularly pleased to have it in place well in advance of Black Friday and Christmas. It’ll help us differentiate our offer even further during these crucial periods.”

Skygate fulfils 95% of Very orders, houses six million items and processes 750,000 products every week.