News and press releases from Collect+
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CollectPlus has warned retailers to expect a surge in returned goods following ‘Mega Monday’ as online shoppers rush to secure replacement gifts before Christmas.
CollectPlus conducted research showing that one in ten (10%)1 festive gifts bought online last year were returned before Christmas. Due to this we forecast that over two million parcels will be returned this week, with the peak day set to be 1st December, dubbed ‘Boomerang Thursday’.
The next five weeks are set to be one of the busiest periods for returns, following significant growth in online retail, which is predicted to hit £7.75bn in the five shopping weeks in December, according to the IMRG, the UK’s industry association for e-retail.
A 15% increase in parcel return volumes is expected during the week, thanks to increasingly high levels of consumer confidence in the returns process. Today, over one in three (37%) online shoppers are fully confident of receiving replacement gifts in time for Christmas, just three weeks out from the big day. Conversely, less than a fifth (17%) would request a refund and buy the gift elsewhere for fear of not receiving the replacement in time.
Mark Lewis, CEO of CollectPlus, comments:
“Despite the tough economic conditions, we’re still expecting a bumper Christmas for online retailers. Throughout 2011, the commercial benefits that a clear and efficient returns service can bring, has increasingly become clear to retailers. However, with customers staying loyal to those that make this area a focus, it is important that this is sustained throughout the festive period. More and more consumers are becoming confident in the ease of use of services such as Click & CollectPlus and with a greater number of retailers recognising this, we see it as a growth area as we move into the new year.”
Thanks to CollectPlus’ innovative parcel tracking system, which sees returns scanned immediately when dropped off in a store, retailers this year will have better and earlier visibility of the volume of goods being returned, allowing more effective warehouse and stock management to ensure availability for shoppers in the run up to Christmas.
David J Smith, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at IMRG, commented:
“The peak pre-Christmas online shopping period is now fully underway; we are estimating that £3.72bn will be spent during this week and the next, as online continues to increase in popularity among consumers. One of the most important considerations to consumers when purchasing online is how convenient the fulfilment options are. Our own research found that 46.5% of online shoppers are influenced on their choice of retailer by the delivery service provided. This is why services such as that provided by CollectPlus are so valuable to the industry, providing the consumer with that choice and convenience that can greatly improve the experience.”
[1] Figures taken from research carried out by Opinium on behalf of CollectPlus. 2000 online consumers were polled in November 2011
The Collect+ half year results have underscored its position as a viable alternative to the Royal Mail/Post Office’s parcel service. The innovative delivery and returns service has doubled its parcel volumes and is now handling over four million a year. The strong growth has been a result of powerful demand from online and multi-channel retailers for its returns and delivery services.
Collect+, which is available through 4500 selected stores within the national PayPoint network, has expanded its service offering by 20% in the past six months, taking it to a third of the size of the Post Office’s parcel delivery estate. Unlike the Post Office, however, the majority of shops offering Collect+ are open seven days a week and for longer than traditional opening hours.
Mark Lewis, CEO of Collect+, says of the results:
“The last six months have been impressively strong for Collect+ as more retailers and shoppers realise the convenience of our service. We are delighted to have over 100 retail brands taking advantage of our returns service and, as we move into 2012, our next area of focus will be to further develop our Click & Collect+ service, which allows consumers to pick up goods bought online from their local Collect+ shop. Recent research shows that two thirds of online shoppers are attracted to this concept and we expect it to be a key area of growth for us as it continues revolutionise how we all shop online.”
Parcel volumes have been boosted by a growing list of retail partners. Building on a list of existing retail clients such as ASOS, Boden, Top Shop and M&MDirect, Collect+ has more than doubled the number of retailer brands it works with since April this year to over 100, taking on partners such as JD Sports, Karen Millen, Oasis, Warehouse, Asda Direct and Argos Outlet. Significantly, Collect+ is now handling more than 1 in 5 of Shop Direct Group’s total returns and 1 in 5 of Very packages are now being delivered to Collect+ stores for customer collection, demonstrating the continued successes of two of its longest-standing partnerships.
Collect+ is a joint venture between PayPoint, the UK’s leading retail payment network, and the leading parcel delivery company Yodel.
In addition, within the next few weeks, eBay will begin offering the hundreds of thousands of people that sell using the online market, an integrated service allowing them to print postage labels. Collect+ will be one of the parcel service providers for the new service, helping further boost the number of private individuals, e-pportunists and micro businesses using Collect+.
Mark Lewis continues:
“Unlike many other parcel companies, our starting point was ease and convenience for the online and mail order shopper. We’ve worked hard to build a service that suits their needs by creating a large network of local shops that are open at times that fit with the busy lives of consumers. That convenience is why so many retailers are coming to us and why we’re experiencing the level of growth we’re seeing.”
This year Collect+ has received recognition from within the industry, having recently been named ‘Third Party Logistics Supplier’ of the year at the Retail Week Supply Chain Awards; ‘Innovative Delivery Service’ at IMRG’s eCommerce Excellence Awards; and has been Highly Commended for ‘Supply Chain Solution of the Year’ by Retail Systems.
As of the beginning of October, myParcelDelivery.com™ is offering its customers the chance to benefit from Collect+’s network of outlets to send their packets and parcels. With all Collect+ outlets open from early until late and most open seven days a week, myParcelDelivery.com™ customers can now choose to drop their parcels off at a local shop at a time that suits them.
The Collect+ service offers flexible and convenient deliveries throughout the UK and Northern Ireland via Yodel, the UK’s leading parcel delivery company, and participating shops within the PayPoint network.
Collect+’s network of stores has grown significantly since the beginning of the year and, as a result, more than 80% of people in towns are now within a mile radius of their closest outlet. Some of the biggest names in online retail now rely on the service for customer returns, including ASOS, Very, Littlewoods and Boden.
Mark Lewis, CEO of Collect+, says of the partnership with myParcelDelivery.com™: “We are delighted to partner with this award winning website. The partnership provides another route through which consumers can experience our service so that people around the UK will be able to benefit from the choice and convenience that lies at the heart of Collect+.”
Manchester based myParcelDelivery.com™ was set up by two Cambridge University graduates, Paul Haydock and David Grimes, who wanted to offer businesses, eBay sellers and smaller retailers access to cost-effective worldwide and UK courier services.
David Grimes, co-founder of myParcelDelivery.com™ says: “Thanks to our partnership with Collect+, we can now provide our customers with the option to drop-off their parcels at over 4,000 participating convenience stores, which means an end to waiting indoors for a collection! Helping our customers find the best and most convenient deal for parcel delivery is what drives us, so it’s great to be able to offer this new exciting service”.
The online parcel and delivery service Collect+ has discovered that the number of those earning money from online businesses has doubled in the last year.
The survey revealed that over a third of ‘e-pportunists’ take home over £10,000 per year,1 with over half of these traders having set up their businesses within the last year. Over 26 percent of e-pportunists are aged between 25 and 34 years of age, reflecting the current decline of the job market in certain sectors of industry and lower wages.
The findings suggest that many individuals are supplementing their existing incomes with online trading as a way of dealing with the increasing cost of living and difficult economic conditions. Almost a quarter of those surveyed revealed that the pressure of household bills had eased as a result of the income gained through online trading. As much as a third of surveyed consumers plan to abandon their day jobs and concentrate on e-businesses should the ventures become enough of a success – a sentiment shared by over 70% of the additional survey participants.
Mark Lewis, CEO of Collect+, says of the research:
“I have met with many of these e-pportunists who find an additional income online, for example selling on eBay. But to do this full time, and to make the leap of faith required, you need to know that the support is out there for you to scale your operation. One element that can often be forgotten is how do I get my goods to customers? For many juggling the demands of starting up a business being able to send goods outside of normal working hours is a real help.”
Collect+ offers easy to use parcel send services through 4,000 specially selected local retailers that are part of the PayPoint network. All are open from early until late and the vast majority are open seven days a week, meaning that people can pick up or send parcels at a time convenient to them. Collect+ services are securely delivered by Yodel, the UK’s leading parcel delivery company.
1 A survey of 368 ‘e-pportunists’ through Startups.co.uk, on behalf of Collect+
Collect+, the innovative parcel delivery and returns service, was named the
Third Party Logistics Provider of the Year at the Retail Week Supply Chain Awards 2011 for its easy and convenient returns service using local corner shops, at a ceremony in London on Wednesday, 7th September.
Collect+ launched its alternative returns service in February 2009 for online, mail and phone order retailers, whereby customers can return purchases via their local corner shop. In the last year, the service has grown dramatically in popularity, and is now delivering over two million parcels a year through Yodel, the UK’s leading parcel delivery company. This represents growth of 500 per cent year-on-year.
The judges recognised Collect+’s philosophy of convenience; convenience for the consumer and for retailers, whose returns it manages on their behalf. Central to that philosophy is the ability for consumers to return their items at a time that is convenient to them. This is delivered by selecting Collect+ outlets from the PayPoint network of corner shops which have extended opening hours, with the vast majority also open seven days a week. 82% of the UK population in urban areas have to travel no more than one mile to a Collect+ store, and 83% of rural population no more than five miles.
Mark Lewis, CEO of Collect+, said of the award:
“We are extremely proud to have received this recognition for the service, which has been growing at a monumental pace since we started the business. At Collect+, our watchwords are convenience and choice, and, as a result, we have created a service that enables retailers to protect their hard fought for brand image by offering their customers a returns service that is both convenient and reliable.”
Collect+ was also Highly Commended in the Online Fulfilment Initiative of the Year category in recognition of its partnership with ASOS. Since January 2011, ASOS has offered Collect+ as one of its default returns offers, alongside Royal Mail. One in six returns to ASOS comes via Collect+ outlets. The Collect+ process has facilitated quicker returns for the retailer, leading to greater efficiencies of stock.
#RetailNews "New technology using Microsoft’s Kinect camera lets customers share the look, in-store & online" http://t.co/ASgEyQ6hUnusual #RetailNews "Amazon buys the rights to James Bond novels" http://t.co/cEaGn4gf#ASOS purchases can now be delivered to over 4,500 Collect+ stores across the UK. Find out more http://t.co/Cei19H7I