Panther Warehousing, the pioneer of two-man, white-glove, next-day delivery, has been working with Amazon to support its new ‘Heavy and Large’ delivery programme for bulky goods such as sofas, beds and other large items.
Amazon introduced the service last summer to enhance the whole customer experience for those who order large household items online and want speedy delivery.
With its specialist knowledge of and experience in the sector, Panther is ideally placed to support sellers on Amazon to make furniture delivery as easy and quick as parcel delivery.
For products in the Heavy and Large Programme, customers are offered nominated day delivery, an option that allows customers to plan ahead with confidence, for example when moving house or refurbishing a home.
For orders fulfilled by Panther, they also benefit from the peace of mind Panther provides with its reputation for reliability, on-time delivery and transparency. Customers are kept in touch every step of the way – receiving a text or email the day before delivery, another on the morning of delivery, stating which two-hour slot it will arrive in, then finally a phone call from the delivery driver.
Colin McCarthy, Panther’s CEO said: “We are absolutely delighted to be working with Amazon, a forward-looking company, and to providing its customers with a great level of service that that belongs in the 21st century, with speed, responsiveness and transparency.
“No-one wants to wait in for days to take delivery of a sofa or bed so we aim to make delivery process as painless as possible, with two-hour windows advised the day before delivery and total transparency for both Amazon and its customers about the progress of deliveries.
“We have built-in safeguards to our system, for example making it impossible for a crew to proceed to the next job until they follow our procedures by phoning ahead to alert the next customer of their imminent arrival.
“Amazon customers have come to expect seamless delivery for smaller parcels and they will expect nothing less for larger items – that is what we will provide.”
While the online shopping revolution was first evident in the purchase of smaller items such as clothes and cosmetics, more and more people are now turning to the internet to order larger items such as furniture, mattresses and baby equipment.
The traditional method of delivering furniture, which is being increasingly abandoned by retailers, was to despatch goods at the retailer’s convenience rather than the customers. Panther turned that approach on its head when it introduced next day delivery for the first time to the two-man, white-glove sector.
It has been a recipe for success. Since then, the company has gone from strength to strength, appearing last year in the London Stock Exchange Group’s ‘1000 Companies to Inspire Britain’ report and the inaugural FT Top 1,000 Europe’s Fastest Growing Companies list.
As well as a choice of next-day, or nominated day delivery, Panther offers customers the option of delivery to a room of choice, with the removal of all packaging, as well as the reassurance of Panther crews all being uniformed and polite.