City Link launches new website

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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02 October 2009
The UK's leading premium express delivery Company has launched a new user-friendly website for the benefit of Customers and Consignees.

City Link has invested in the project to create a fresh, modern branded website to give users the latest information on products and services at the click of a mouse.

The new-look site is proving popular among City Link website users who have praised the Company's online consignment information and Track & Trace functionality.



Upgrading the website took almost six months to complete. City Link Managing Director Stuart Godman said the project came about as the old website did not fully reflect City Link's brand values and had become dated.

He said: "The website has been developed in-house and has already received much positive feedback from both Customers and Consignees.

"They tell us the new website is easer to navigate, they can access information on our local Depots much quicker and it has made their online dealings with City Link much easier than before.

"Here at City Link we are constantly looking at ways in which we can improve our service for Customers. We have implemented an ongoing Depot relocation and refurbishment programme. We have also recently spent £2.5 million on a new state of the art track and trace IT system which has benefited our Customers and Colleagues immensely.

"We are delighted our new-look website is already beginning to reap dividends for ourselves and our Customers.

"Close monitoring has revealed City Link has seen an improvement in search engine optimisation and we are delighted with the number of enquiries we have received following the launch of the new site."

City Link, which is this year celebrating its 40th anniversary, employs nearly 6,000 people throughout the UK, operating 3,000 vehicles from a network of over 85 Depots, handling approximately 350,000 parcels daily.

[DGP1]

handling approximately 350,000 parcels daily.

Is this the extent of our competition how many millions of items do we deliver everyday (6 days a week)?

[baldrick]

I remember reading somewhere that we deliver more items in
one day than all our competitors together deliver in a year.

[BELIAL]

Problem that our so called competitors have is that they really are very small and thinly spread. Recipients tend to get cheesed off if valuable orders are stepped and even more irate if they are forced to make a 36mile round trip to collect their parcel(in a densely populated area) I know of many who have simply cancelled orders as a result and many more who will not place repeat orders because of the carrier used.
Can't say how many inform their suppliers of the reason for the loss of their custom ,but I guess it becomes obvious with time

[Carnoustie]

Problem that our so called competitors have is that they really are very small and thinly spread. Recipients tend to get cheesed off if valuable orders are stepped and even more irate if they are forced to make a 36mile round trip to collect their parcel(in a densely populated area) I know of many who have simply cancelled orders as a result and many more who will not place repeat orders because of the carrier used.
Can't say how many inform their suppliers of the reason for the loss of their custom ,but I guess it becomes obvious with time

The main danger for us is if a Chief Executive of one of these smaller companies realises that to offer a real alternative, he has to acquire / merge with several of his rival companies to form a much much bigger outfit that can have greater coverage and economies of scale, which would allow them to really compete with RM.

Look at Sky's dominance of the pay-TV market. At one time, cable companies were so busy trying to win customers from each other that Sky had no worries about any real competition for custom. Then, before you knew it, Telewest, Cable and Wireless, and ntl had become one organisation called Virgin Media, with UK-wide coverage and a very real competitor.

That's exactly why Orange and T-Mobile are merging in the mobile phone market.

So, whilst City Link are no threat at the moment, they could eventually become part of a much larger organisation that might become a true threat.

[BELIAL]

The main danger for us is if a Chief Executive of one of these smaller companies realises that to offer a real alternative, he has to acquire / merge with several of his rival companies to form a much much bigger outfit that can have greater coverage and economies of scale, which would allow them to really compete with RM.

Think you will find that all options for maximising profit have already been explored. RM's market dominance makes any such moves financially untenable . Simple reason being that to achieve nationwide coverage any competitor would have to incur costs massively bigger than RM's even if they are mega efficient owing to the fact that so many of RM's fixed costs were set a long time ago. Even if they achieve cost parity and instant market capture of 50% (highly unlikely) then any emerging competitor would have all the costs but half the level of revenue that RM get now.

Look at Sky's dominance of the pay-TV market. At one time, cable companies were so busy trying to win customers from each other that Sky had no worries about any real competition for custom. Then, before you knew it, Telewest, Cable and Wireless, and ntl had become one organisation called Virgin Media, with UK-wide coverage and a very real competitor.

That's exactly why Orange and T-Mobile are merging in the mobile phone market.

So, whilst City Link are no threat at the moment, they could eventually become part of a much larger organisation that might become a true threat.

I see your point but I do not think the comparison is a valid one. True ,all are involved in the comms market ,but they are chalk and cheese. The infrastructure costs of moving physical communication material around the globe are a hundred times greater than transmitting data electronically . Vodafones spending spree in the 90's seemed astronomical but it would be peanuts compared to the true cost of setting up or purchasing a national delivery organisation.

[Carnoustie]

I see your point but I do not think the comparison is a valid one. True ,all are involved in the comms market ,but they are chalk and cheese. The infrastructure costs of moving physical communication material around the globe are a hundred times greater than transmitting data electronically . Vodafones spending spree in the 90's seemed astronomical but it would be peanuts compared to the true cost of setting up or purchasing a national delivery organisation.

I'm not saying creating a rival national delivery network wouldn't be a daunting task, both logistically and financially. No way could it be set-up quickly or even in the medium-term. But, just occasionally, there comes along in business an individual who has focus, drive and the sheer determination to achieve a long-term goal. Who would have thought a geeky British student setting up a mail-order record business in 1970 would end up with a business empire the size that Virgin Group is today ? A true entrepreneur could finance aquisitions of rival carriers by offering existing shareholders the right to buy additional shares in the enlarged group, effectively getting investors to fund the company in achieving the necessary size to truly compete directly with RM.