Comment: Flannels' Confuses With Online Delivery Charges

In a world of free delivery and next-day guarantees, the worst thing you can do is confuse your shoppers even more with schizophrenic discounts on existing charges.

So when a fashion blogger friend of ours remarked on the fluctuating delivery prices at luxury fashion store Flannels - owned by the usually canny Newcastle United and Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley - we worry that it is the worst thing you can do with loyal shoppers.

The standard delivery charge - indeed the only delivery option - at Flannels is £5.95 for a staggering 5-7 day wait. But recently the Flannels Twitter feed @flannelsfashion has been variously offering free delivery and, inexplicably, £1 delivery.

Flannels: Delivery Policy Outdated

Over the past few days, it has been fluctuating even more wildly: on November 4 it was '£1 delivery on all UK orders for a limited time only - simply use code POSTAGE1 at checkout'; on the 7th they were told to 'hurry - £1 delivery on all UK orders ends tomorrow'.

But then at lunch time on Friday - the following day - they launched a new offer: 'Starts today: FREE UK delivery on all orders! Simply use FLANFREEDEL at checkout'. Even more confusing, the site itself today says postage is £1 for a 'limited period'.

Ok, I'm confused; you're confused. Either: the marketing person responsible is getting also confused, or they are just an excitable sort of chap or simply hasn't got enough to do. Alternatively they are faced by a vast number of extremely tight customers for whom the difference between 'free' and '£1' delivery charges is like opening the flood gates and they feel as though they constantly have to turn the tap on and off on a daily basis.

Firstly, I'd feel a bit insulted if I had 'hurried' to make an order for a £1 delivery charge only to see the next day it was free.

But secondly, why on earth bother with the £1 offer at all? Just wipe the delivery charge altogether or restrict your offers to free delivery to loosen things up when trade is a bit sluggish.

Although we note that Net-a-Porter still charges £5 for its basic delivery option for arrival within 2-3 days and £8 for a nominated day. Similar to Flannels but a little more flexible.

But ultimately, to our mind, not offering free delivery on £1,400 handbags and expecting customers to wait up to a week seems a little bit cheap in these days of Amazon Prime. This is a luxury website after all. There is nothing less luxury than fiddling around for loose change than waiting up to a week for your order.

The pace of change in the e-commerce delivery market led by the likes of Amazon and even House of Fraser is beginning to make retailers like Flannels and their expensive and inflexible delivery models look anachronistic.