An industry-first offering from England’s Royal Mail is set to revolutionize the same day postal delivery market by offering customers the ability to track the progress of their goods in real time.

Royal Mail’s same day service allows customers to see the exact location of the vehicle carrying their items, even the speed it is traveling, using GPS satellite technology. The online system is updated every 60 seconds to ensure live tracking of an item’s progress.

Royal Mail’s service also allows contract customers to book online 24 hours a day and all senders are e-mailed the signature received on delivery within 10 seconds of an item being signed for. All vehicles are fitted with satellite navigation to locate the fastest routes and provide accurate arrival planning.

“Our new same day service is a real innovation for the delivery market. Integrating state-of-the-art technology and an innovative business model has enabled us to lead the charge on offering a service that provides the information on delivery progress customers are demanding – when and how they want it – as well as a high quality of service,” Gerry Farwell, head of supply chain at Royal Mail, said in a statement.

Royal Mail is targeting businesses across all sectors with its new service, from FTSE 100 companies with a daily demand for same day services to medium and smaller businesses and consumers who have an ad hoc need. Same day services are used for a variety of items, from time critical documents to meet tender deadlines, fund transfers and rectifying stock control issues to the replacement of high value goods that have been lost or stolen to the delivery of urgent travel documents.

“The same day delivery market is highly fragmented with hundreds of companies offering services, either on a local or national basis,” Farwell said. “But while some other providers may have elements of the technology such as GPS tracking as part of their service, they don’t enable the sender and receiver to access the information and view the progress of their item themselves.”