What connects Armistice Day and online shopping?
In September of this year, I watched my television with horror.
Young British lions in Basra were baling out of a Warrior
armoured vehicle that was engulfed in flames, in the face of an
angry mob armed with petrol bombs. A few weeks earlier, three
young men from the same regiment had died in a roadside bomb
explosion in Al Amarah.
I would like to contrast these dreadful incidents with the
way that some British online shopkeepers support our troops
serving their country overseas.
As Christmas approaches, many members of the armed forces,
who are serving abroad with and without their families, will
turn to the Internet to buy their presents. When far from home,
short of time and under real pressure, there is something
comforting about buying Christmas presents on a British 'high
street', albeit a virtual British 'high street'.
The lack of support from shopkeepers centres on the British
Forces Post Office (BFPO) system. Not on the system itself,
which performs heroically in moving letters and parcels quickly
and safely to remote and hostile parts of the globe. The
problems lie with online shopkeepers not working with the BFPO
system largely, I suspect, due to a lack of knowledge about how
the system operates.
The first problem is that Service men and women serving
abroad cannot feel confident that all British online shops will
supply them via the BFPO. This means that, on a shop by shop
basis, they must read through each and every delivery policy
before placing their orders.
Our sailors, soldiers and airmen simply do not have the time
or energy to read 'small print', especially when they are on
active duty. They should be able to assume that all shops 'back
home' will supply them with goods overseas without question.
Currently, some shopkeepers state in their delivery policies
that they will not supply BFPO addresses. Some shopkeepers say
that they will supply BFPO addresses, albeit with package
content, size and weight limits. Some shopkeepers say that they
will supply BFPO addresses, but at additional cost relative to
UK mainland delivery. The vast majority of shopkeepers say
absolutely nothing about BFPO delivery on their sites! With very
few exceptions, these policies and omissions are unacceptable.
I venture to suggest that British online shopkeepers should
display the slogan 'We supply our Armed Forces overseas' proudly
on their home pages, in recognition of the onerous and
unpleasant duties that our Service men and women perform on our
behalf. For eHawker's part, we list clearly which of our
merchants will supply BFPO addresses.
The current situation creates a good deal of uncertainty in
military minds. And, just like we civilians, if there is one
thing that puts you off buying online, it is uncertainty. No
soldier serving in Iraq, the Balkans or Afghanistan wants to
hear that their goods have been 'returned to sender' because the
merchant failed to work with BFPO. Having to chase return notes
and refunds is hassle enough for those of us who are lucky
enough not to be dodging rioters, roadside bombs and ricochets
on a daily basis.
What I have said thus far assumes that shopkeepers have
allowed Forces' folk and their partners to place orders online.
Apart from the misunderstandings to do with BFPO delivery
procedures, most sites still fail to cater for the unusual BFPO
address format. BFPO addresses are written as: Number, Rank,
Name; Sub-unit or Department; Main Unit; BFPO number. The
important thing to note here is that BFPO addresses overseas
lack conventional UK post codes.
It seems that many online shopkeepers are unaware of this
fact. Too many web sites insist on the entry of a UK post code
and refuse to take orders without them. To ensure that our
Forces serving overseas feel appreciated, online shopkeepers
should ensure that their web sites cater fully for BFPO
addresses, ideally by appending '/BFPO Number' to the phrase
'Post Code/Zip Code'.
To aid shopkeepers' understanding, I urge them to visit the
BFPO, Royal Mail and Parcelforce web sites. On these sites,
shopkeepers will find information on setting up private courier
contracts with BFPO, using civilian Post Offices for delivery
and definitive information on BFPO address formats.
Yes, modifying existing online shops will require
investments in time and money. However, these investments will
remove another, largely unreported form of discrimination from
society. New online shops should build compatible means of BFPO
delivery, and BFPO address formats, into their site designs from
day one.
Why should shopkeepers make these investments? Well, because
the Forces community living overseas likes to shop in familiar
British stores. Christmas, in particular, is a time when
military folk abroad think of familiar things at home.
Also, our young men and women in uniform have disposable
income to spend; income that will be spent in German or Cypriot
shops, for example, if it isn't spent in online British shops.
Lastly, these loyal young lions and lionesses will return to
the UK one-day - on leave, on courses, on postings and at the
end of their Service lives.
If this still isn't enough to spur British online
shopkeepers to action, I ask them to remember the debt of
gratitude that we owe to all of our lion-hearted Forces, present
and past: a debt that we remember with pride by wearing poppies
on the 11th day of November every year - Armistice Day.