Delivery failures over Christmas period cost UK retailers £3bn and Argos marketing director quits

Christmas delivery failures cost UK retailers £3bn

Delivery failures over Christmas period will impact UK retailers, who will miss out on over £3bn, according to research undertaken by The Institute of Customer Service, Drapers reported.

The research discovered that 16 million UK customers had experienced delays with their deliveries over Christmas last year. Owing to this, 73% of them are avoiding the offending retailers this year.

The average delay was 5.3 days. Online shoppers in Wales had to wait the longest, at an average of 6.5 days; while average delays for shoppers in Ireland and London were 3.6 and 5.8 days respectively.

Shoppers spent an average of £250 with retailers who failed to deliver on time in 2015.

Argos marketing director to exit

Argos marketing director Stephen Vowles has departed the business following its acquisition by Sainsbury’s, The Drum reported.

Vowles had joined the retailer in September 2013 and had played a significant role in re-launching the brand. He was also the face behind the ‘Go Argos’ campaign and the Fast Track same-day delivery service launched last year.

Prior to joining Argos, he was director of customer experience at Ladbrokes.