British public now trust Amazon more than the Royal Mail

It’s postmen and women have been a familiar sight on Britain’s doorsteps for centuries.

But Royal Mail now admits it is less trusted than US internet giant Amazon when it comes to delivering mail safely to our homes.

Internal postal service data, seen by The Mail on Sunday, shows that 38 per cent of mail recipients would recommend Amazon, while 35 per cent would back Royal Mail. DPD and Parcelforce, owned by Royal Mail, came next in the trust list.

Royal Mail chief operating officer Nick Landon described losing top spot to Amazon as ‘very worrying’. In an internal message to its 140,000 staff, Mr Landon said: ‘All of our pride should be dented by Amazon Logistics taking top spot.

‘That’s why everyone in our pipeline has a role to play in getting us back to being number one. Ask yourself, “What can I do more?”

‘Help us get back above Amazon so we can keep moving forward and win that trust on the doorstep.’

Royal Mail traces its roots back to the 16th Century and was privatised in 2013. Amazon Logistics is part of the online behemoth and was launched in the UK in 2012.

Mr Landon said that research showed Royal Mail posties remained trusted, but he revealed that customers had marked the company down on areas including the accuracy of its tracking information, whether the item arrived on time, and the condition of the package on delivery.

He said: ‘Our customers tell us that when Amazon say what time they’re going to be delivering an item they meet that time. And that is less so with us.

‘So we need to make sure every time that we are delivering an item on the day and at the time that it has been promised.

‘It’s really important that what we say we’re going to do, we do.

‘If we don’t do that, customers get upset, they phone us. It costs us money.’

Royal Mail said year-on-year data showed it remains the UK’s most trusted delivery company overall. It is also still the country’s largest courier, ahead of Amazon Logistics, Hermes, UPS and DHL.

The pandemic has turned the delivery industry on its head, as last year’s lockdown put huge strains on posties and drivers. Companies have since hired extra staff to cope with the surge in online shopping.

Royal Mail’s fortunes have been transformed by the Covid outbreak, pushing expected profits to around £700 million for the past 12 months, compared to £325 million last year.

But the pandemic also forced workers to self-isolate due to the virus, causing delays to deliveries.