The capacity of its parcel collection and drop-off points is one of the key differentiators betweenDoddle and other parcel shops, in a market where ‘click and collect’ has rapidly become part of the
delivery landscape, according to the start-up network’s CEO.Doddle is a new parcel shop network launched in September at train stations around the UK asa £24 million joint venture between Network Rail and entrepreneur Lloyd Dorfman, creator of theTravelex Group, the world’s largest non-bank foreign exchange business.
The company’s chief executive Tim Robinson said at this week’s ‘The Future of E-CommerceDelivery’ conference in London that in the 18 months since Doddle was created as a concept, the UKe-retail parcels market had evolved to encompass several new delivery and collection models.
In addition to automated parcel terminals, the carrier-sponsored parcel shop networks set upby Collect Plus and Hermes, and the in-store collection options promoted by retailers, Robinsonpointed to initiatives by forward-thinking UK retailers such as John Lewis and French Connection asindicators of the direction in which parcel drop-off and collection was travelling.
John Lewis had opened up a click and collect convenience store at London’s St Pancrasstation, while French Connection has opened a “pop-up” click and collect convenience store at OldStreet station, he observed.
“The gap between bricks and mortar and online is becoming smaller and smaller,” hecommented. “But I think it is now undeniable that consumers want parcel lockers and parcel shops.”
Although there were some customers who were looking particularly for speed, he said whatmost customers wanted was certainty, something that parcels shops and lockers were able to deliver.“And I think there is a lot of space within this market for a Doddle model, click and collect, andother models. I don’t think there is anyone who would say that they are just a John Lewis customeror even that they are just a customer of a single supermarket.”
He said there was a market for manned and unmanned parcel consolidation points. “I think forall formats, and I felt that the sector would benefit from having this offer.”
He defended the decision by Doddle to aim for just 300 locations, even though the NetworkRail portfolio, on which the Doddle shops will be located, contains 2,500 rail stations across theUK. “They would probably all benefit from this, but the conclusion I came to was that we would justbecome a poor repeat of the carrier networks.”
Robinson said Doddle now had 13 parcel shops up and running at stations around the UK, witha total of 30 set to be in place in the run-up to Christmas. “What is proving to be very successfulin the first six to seven weeks of transacting with the public is that our ‘parcelistas’ aretrained to find the right product for their customers’ needs,” he said.
With carrier partners including FedEx and UK Mail, Robinson said many customers had littlesense of which carrier or products were most suited to their specific needs.
Asked whether Doddle was like a Carphone Warehouse of parcel shops, he responded: “Yes, Ithink so. We want to be an honest broker for a suite of products. Our service and our price willnot work for everyone, but I think it works for a sufficient percentage of the UK population.”
He felt that there was a significant value to being carrier-neutral, or “agnostic”,stressing that Doddle had no plans to operate its own vehicles.
“But where the logistic supply chain needs us is in very high-density urban locations,” hesaid. “We can hold around 1,500 parcels at our locations, and so that is a very different scale towhat some of the alternatives are able to offer.”
Robinson said he believed that the Doddle model could also work well in other countries, andsaid the company already had an operation in Australia with a joint-venture partner.
