Women’s fashion retailer, Hobbs, is offering free next-day delivery to Doddle stores as one of its newest shipping options, until 23 December.
The promotion follows the retailer partnering with Doddle, which will offer next-day services for £3.95 (free for purchases over £150) and free returns.
Hobbs, which is in the Top 100 of InternetRetailing’s IRUK Top500 report, already offers click-and-collect to 54 of its 100+ stores across the country.
Doddle has grown its own store network over the last 12 months, and now covers 45 across the UK including Waterloo, King’s Cross, Paddington and Birmingham. Doddle currently partners with over 25 retailers including Amazon, Asos, New Look, Hawes & Curtis, Wiggle and T.M. Lewin. Around a third of its stores are fitted with changing rooms.
Andrew Carter, head of ecommerce at Hobbs, said: “Partnering with Doddle enables Hobbs to broaden our range of delivery and returns options for customers, offering a convenient and cost effective next day delivery option. The inclusion of changing rooms in Doddle stores is also a benefit we think our customers will be attracted to.”
Tim Robinson, CEO of Doddle said: “With customers becoming accustomed to the convenience of flexible delivery services, offering a range of delivery and return solutions to suit different lifestyles is an essential element to creating a positive customer experience. We’re delighted to become the delivery address for Hobbs customers so they never have to miss a delivery again.”
Over the recent cyber weekend, Doddle experienced an increase of 122% in volumes into its stores the day after Black Friday, and a 42% increase in weekly volumes across its stores that whole week.
Back in October, Doddle’s CEO, Tim Robinson, spoke to eDelivery about the genesis of the Doddle idea, the company’s rollout of new services, and why he doesn’t envy the carrier sector.
With high returns rates now par for the course across the fashion sector, bringing Doddle into the fold makes a lot of sense for a retailer like Hobbs, which is already one of the leaders in multi-channel retail. The chance to order online, then collect, try and even return simultaneously, could well be an appealing proposition for many Hobbs shoppers – particularly those for whom getting to a store might be a challenge. It will also take some of the stresses out of the returns track, by having Doddle soak up some of those initial processing transactions, which at this time of the year could potentially relieve pressure on its stores in particular.
