Parcel and document delivery specialist, DX, is to launch its own click-and-collect network, in association with Doddle and InPost.
The DX Parcel Exchange will give shoppers the option to have deliveries made to InPost’s 1,000 lockers and Doddle’s 45 parcel stores, nationwide.
Stuart Godman, chief strategy & marketing officer at DX, said: “Click-and-collect has really expanded in popularity in recent years. Consumers are clearly enjoying the flexibility and convenience that online shopping offers and now expect the same from their delivery providers. Convenient collection services are therefore integral to fitting in with customers’ busy lives.
InPost and Doddle both have respected collection propositions and, coupled with DX’s delivery and fulfilment capabilities, we’re confident that DX Parcel Exchange will become a key feature in the online retail market.”
Earlier this month, eDelivery reported on problems some shoppers had experienced with click-and-collect services during the busy Christmas peak period. Based on findings from the JDA/Centiro Christmas Customer Pulse report, we considered whether collect-from-store services have started to outstrip capacity.
According to their research, which was carried out by YouGov, 36% of Christmas click-and-collect shoppers experienced issues with their orders. Chief among those issues were:
- Retailers not having a dedicated area in-store for click-and-collect purchases (31%)
- Long waiting times (31%)
- Staff being unable, or taking a long time, to locate items (24%).
If stores are going to struggle to accommodate shoppers’ increasing interest in click-and-collect, retailers will have to look to alternative solutions. The DX Parcel Exchange may be one example of providers (in this case a carrier, a collection point and a locker provider) collaborating to build additional capacity into the overall delivery network.
However, there are plenty in the delivery sector that wouldn’t necessarily agree that increased click-and-collect capacity in any format is the answer the retail world needs. Ahead of last year’s eDelivery Conference, we interviewed Tom Allason, CEO of Shutl, who feels there’s still a long way to go before delivery really starts to offer convenience and flexibility to shoppers.
“There’s a massive amount of opportunity out there, particularly in delivery because, let’s face it, delivery still does suck,” he said.
“The biggest, or most convenient, thing in delivery is click-and-collect – and when I say biggest I mean most widely adopted. The way I see it, fundamentally the problem is I can’t get my stuff delivered to me where I want and when I want at a price that I consider good value.
“The solution to that problem is probably not getting your product delivered somewhere you don’t want, i.e. a store, at a time you don’t want, but that is still more convenient than the alternative. And that’s basically the state of affairs that we have today.
“So I think there is still a huge opportunity out there in delivery. I think fundamentally the consumer is not really treated as the customer and alluding to the research we’ve done here, consumers’ expectations are changing very rapidly in this space.”
