The adage ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ has never been more relevant than it is today in the fast-paced express industry.In 2018 Amazon realised the value of picture proof, and personnel started taking photos of packages that had been delivered, unattended, to customer residences as confirmation that delivery had taken place. The company had long been exploring different ways of deterring package theft and finding ways to keep customers informed of the details of package delivery. Photo on delivery is a concept that has continued to gain traction and is increasingly being used by courier companies.FedEx is the latest courier to launch the service and one of the first to do so in the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (Amea) region. The service, it says, is another step in the company’s continued efforts to digitise its services and improve the customer experience while supporting e-commerce growth in the region.With the B2C e-commerce market growing by 12.5% in Asia Pacific this year, residential deliveries are on the rise. With consumers not always home to receive their deliveries, the no-signature-required delivery option allows for their packages to be delivered, although it can come with uncertainty about whether the package has actually arrived, even with parcel tracking available.Starting in November this year, customers in Hong Kong and New Zealand who choose the “no-signature-required” delivery option, receive a photo showing the exact location of their package once it’s delivered to their doorstep, by tracking their package on the FedEx website. The service will be rolled out in other markets in 2023.“Consumers are now reporting that over half of their spending is going online, which means that e-commerce has become truly mainstream. We are working rapidly to find ways to innovate digitally across our operations. This will help to differentiate our service offerings and deliver an enhanced end-to-end customer experience,” said Kawal Preet, president of Amea at FedEx Express.
