Study: FedEx couriers ‘easy on the nose’

Categorized | Business

Study: FedEx couriers ‘easy on the nose’

Published on September 29, 2008 ⋅ Written by Eros Giancarlo Gucci ⋅ Email this article ⋅ Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

FedEx: Smellable packages

Vancouver, BC -- Federal Express couriers smell nice, a market study has found.

Conducted by the market research division of Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC) Canada over a period of 90 days, the study involved randomly selected mid-size and Fortune 500 companies throughout Canada.

Participants were simply asked to rank the couriers they deal with on a daily basis according to how pleasantly they smelled.

"How couriers smell is just as important as how reliable they are when it comes to delivering packages."

PWC Canada market research specialist Darlene Megman said FedEx unanimously topped the list, followed by Purolator, UPS and DHL.

"FedEx couriers, it would seem, are well-bathed," she said.

The study has found that Purolator couriers are generally scentless and clean-smelling, clinical almost. However, 4% of respondents reported their "Purolator couriers smell like Patchouli."

United Parcel Service people tend to be a little on the musty and fusty side. One respondent remarked, "It's not a bad smell, just very antiquated."

DHL couriers have been roundly described as "possessing this faint greasy odor."

"It's like they had just emerged from a really poorly-ventilated Asian restaurant," said Jeremy Fink, who works for Wal-Mart Canada. "Even at 10 in the morning, they still smell like that. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course."

PWC Canada initially had planned to conduct a more thorough market research on the courier companies operating in Canada but had to scale it back due to budget cuts. Megman defended their decision to focus on the olfactory side of the delivery business, saying "how couriers smell is just as important as how reliable they are when it comes to delivering packages."