Whether the e-retailer is shipping 20 or 20,000 parcels, this new low-cost solution gives them an automated tool-set with which to select, price, present and manage a range of delivery options. IDIS DM also handles back-end operations, out-bound communications and status reporting, freeing the retailer to focus on running their online shop.

Nick Robertson, CEO and founder of ASOS, the leading online fashion store and one of the many top retailers supporting the IDIS DM initiative, commented: "Even the best shopping experience can be totally negated by a bad delivery experience. With the IDIS Delivery Manager, our delivery options will be significantly better."

Some 1.2 billion deliveries will be made in the UK in 2008 as a result of online shopping. If home delivery performance were to remain unimproved from that recorded in 2007, almost £1.5 billion of direct costs would be wasted in the UK in 2008 because of largely avoidable home delivery inefficiencies and failures. Applying the results to the wider market, IMRG estimates that £3 billion per annum of benefit is currently available by resolving delivery inefficiencies.

IMRG is committed to accelerating the improvement of home shopping delivery until the e-retail industry achieves service fit for the internet age.

Half of the UK population now shops online to save time and money, and because the internet is where the largest range of goods can be found. Internet shopping has grown 4,000% during the past seven years, and is expected to double again by 2012, by which time it will account for 25% of all retail sales.

The delivery experience is key to the success of online shopping, and the fact that UK consumers are spending more than £4 billion per month on the internet shows that many people are generally satisfied with the service.

However, some internet retailers' services are far better than others. The best give shoppers detailed information and greater choice about how and when they receive their orders, which can be critical for the 50% of households that are unoccupied during normal working hours, and for those sending goods that must arrive by a specific time, such as Christmas.