Online shopping has been on the increase for many years, but the Covid-19 pandemic gave a huge boost to home delivery as non-food shops had to close their doors. One B2C specialist described the pandemic as like “Christmas every day”.

While Christmas was not exactly cancelled in 2023, the economic slowdown and rising interest rates dampened consumers’ enthusiasm for spending, reversing the pressure to cope with booming demand and making efficiency and cost saving the highest priorities.

In this highly competitive sector, the need to deliver the best service at the lowest price never goes away and operators still had to strive to set themselves apart from their competition and position themselves as the home delivery operator of choice for both retailer and consumer.

Against this tough economic backdrop, operators had to show progress or at least a plan for decarbonising their operations.

The judges will be looking for:

• The ability to adapt to changing volumes;
• Commitment to the well-being of staff;
• A strong business performance matched by service excellence including first-time delivery rates;
• A range of delivery options to improve the end recipient experience;
• Innovation in the vehicle fleet that increased the efficiency of the operation;
• Ability to meet the ever-increasing demands of the end recipient for more flexible delivery options;
• Excellent health and safety standards;
• Evidence of the financial stability of the organisation.

This Award is open to any third party or own-account operator offering a home delivery service.