British online shoppers could be put in the 'delivery driving seat' through a 'revolutionary' consumer-focused and carrier-neutral mobile app that enables them to buy online and get goods delivered according to their personal preferences.
Parcel For Me, which aims to sign up a dozen key retailers in the next few months and then go live in a major consumer launch, claims it will 'disrupt' and 'revolutionise' online shopping by preventing an estimated £2.6 trillion worth of abandoned online purchases and by increasing customer satisfaction.
Parcel For Me allows consumers to personalise a wide menu of delivery options using either a free smartphone app or via a retailer's own website to control how, when and where they receive their deliveries. In addition, consumers will be able to manage multiple orders from different retailers in real time to ensure that they never miss another delivery.
In addition, the app will enable consumers to make 'one-stop log-ins' on all participating retailer websites, thus avoiding having to enter personal data numerous times on different websites. Users will also be able to rate the performance of retailers and carriers, and to receive in-app marketing offers from retailers.
Founded by a broad-based team of experienced industry professionals, the company believes it can help retailers to secure extra sales while offering consumers a much improved delivery experience by enabling them to provide details of their delivery preferences, including time and place, as well as payment options and other preferences in a single standard profile.
Chairman Steve Perry told guests, including CEP-Research, at a launch event in London last night (February 1): "Parcel For Me is a revolutionary opportunity to create a big change in the way we shop online."
He claimed that two thirds of potential online sales failed because of 'cart abandonment' when online shoppers were required to enter personal details every time when completing a purchase on different websites. "We will level the playing-field so all retailers can compete in the marketplace," he declared.
Parcel For Me CEO Luke Davids, former UK and Europe head of iParcel, the cross-border e-commerce company acquired by UPS, explained that consumers could use the app to create detailed personal online shopping profiles, including when and where they would like their parcels to be delivered. This would include home deliveries and alternative options such as parcel lockers or parcel shops.
Retailers could integrate the free Parcel For Me app into their websites, thus enabling them to deliver goods in line with customer preferences. In response to CEP-Research questions, Davids clarified that retailers would deliver based on their carrier agreements while taking consumer preferences into account.
Perry, a former senior Visa Europe executive, added: "Whilst the amount of e-commerce in the UK continues to grow by roughly 16% each year, every retailer knows that the big challenge lies in addressing the massive problem of those transactions which aren't completed. Reliable estimates suggest that two-thirds of all possible purchases are abandoned – equivalent to a massive £2.6 trillion each year – commonly because of the time taken to repeatedly fill in registration forms and payment details or the cost or limited range of delivery options.
"What we have created is a really powerful solution to the problem, condensed into a simple smartphone app, with which consumers can keep track of all their online orders, payments – no matter how many participating retailers that they shop with – combined with tailored delivery preferences in one place. Retailers will be able to install the new checkout experience on their websites free of charge.
"For shoppers, it simply makes buying a much more pleasurable experience and avoids the need to monitor a large number of e-mails to find out when different goods will arrive. For independent retailers, it provides the first viable solution to the headache of cart abandonment.”
Dr Perry stressed that the benefits of Parcel For Me – which is supported by major delivery services – would not be confined to big retail brands alone. "Parcel For Me gives any online retailer the ability to compete with the biggest online brands and to significantly increase order completion and checkout. Smaller retailers have complained to us that, to date, they have not been able to provide or manage that choice. Now, they can.
"Furthermore, Parcel for Me has built an open and agnostic system with the intention of supporting every carrier in the market,” he concluded.
The Parcel For Me concept was welcomed by two guest speakers at the launch event. Mark Pettit, Hermes UK sales and marketing director, declared: "This is a game-changer in the industry. This is great for retailers, great for carriers and fantastic for consumers. We're very eager to support it."
Sir Ian Cheshire, a long-serving senior executive in the British retail industry and newly-appointed chairman of department store group Debenhams, said the UK is "leading" in e-commerce thanks to innovative services and other factors but "still has problems". In particular, e-retailers needed to create "frictionless" customer experiences like Amazon already provides, he urged.
Referring to Parcel For Me, he commented: "This is the sort of initiative that we need and if it succeeds, it will solve many of our problems."
