Parcelly kick-starts international expansion in Middle East

UK-based urban logistics start-up Parcelly is heading abroad with the launch of its technology-driven delivery service in the Middle East.

The company presented its technology to the regional market last week, exhibiting in partnership with Saudi Arabian firm Aqrab at The Retail Summit in Dubai. In the next step, Parcelly will collaborate with a number of local partners, including Aqrab, to expand its proven business model in the Middle Eastern region.

Parcelly, which has a nationwide footprint of more than 2,000 location partners in over 60 cities in the UK, said it aims to leverage its five years of experience and powerful technology to drive Urban Logistics innovation in the Middle East.

In particular it wants to empower local partners to benefit from PUDO location services such as:
       * Click&Collect and Leave Safe (what3words enabled)
       * Hyper-Local Warehousing
       * Consolidation and Returns
       * Cross-Docking

E-Commerce in the Middle East is forecasted to be worth $48.6 billion in 2022, according to BMI Research. Rising parcel volumes, reverse logistics as well as slim profit margins in the supply chain are ubiquitous pain points for retailers and carriers, which call for sustainable and smart technology that drives efficiency, collaboration and innovation, according to the company.  

CEO and founder Sebastian Steinhauser said: “After more than 4 years of developing our business model in the UK, and trialling multiple pilots abroad, Parcelly’s launch in the Middle East marks a huge step for the company and an important milestone in our long-term vision to becoming the number 1 brand that drives the future of Urban Logistics.

“The flexibility behind our technology, but also its operational, financial and environmental benefits, allow us to introduce Parcelly’s array of services to almost any city, area or region worldwide. The Middle East, with its enormous E-Commerce growth over recent years, is a great place for us to apply this strategy and to kick-start our international expansion.”

Parcelly claims to solve operational challenges arising from the new reality of retail, converting excess space in local businesses through a mobile application into carrier and retailer agnostic storage capacity.

Its technology allows retailers and carriers alike to bridge the last- and first-mile fulfilment gap, enabling solutions from traditional PUDO (Pick-up and drop-off) services such as Click&Collect and Returns, to innovations like Hyper-local Warehousing (also referred to as ‘Dark Stores’) and inner-city Cross-Docking.