Business Companion launches new guidance on delivery charges for businesses

Posted 28/07/22

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) on behalf of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), has launched a free, expert guide about delivery charges and best practices for business-to-consumer (B2C) trading.

The new guide, hosted on the Business Companion platform, covers the legal requirements and duties for traders organising their deliveries to consumers. It also provides guidance on providing better customer service to consumers awaiting their deliveries and a helpful self-assessment checklist for businesses to check how they're doing. 

CTSI hopes that the guide will clear up the legal duties of businesses while providing advice to achieve even better customer service, assess performance and plan improvements where necessary. 

It is hoped that the Trading Standards profession, which CTSI trains and represents, will aid the guide's distribution by sharing it with businesses in their local authority area.

Helen Buckingham, Regulatory Consultant and author of the Delivery Charges guidance said: "The importance of reliable and effective deliveries for businesses to customers is vital for supporting consumer confidence. This new guide will aid companies in improving their deliveries to customers at a time when the cost-of-living crisis makes good customer service even more critical. 

"Traders are entirely responsible for their goods until they are in the hands of the consumer. If goods are damaged in transit, it is the trader that is responsible for replacement and redress. This guide ensures that businesses know their role and responsibilities in the delivery pipeline from depot to door and what they can do to fulfil their duties at a better standard. I recommend this guide to all businesses focussed on deliveries to customers."

Businesses can find the new guide at this link

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