PayPoint’s CollectPlus is planning to grow its network to 7,000 parcel pick up and drop off (PUDO) locations by the end of the year.
Currently the CollectPlus network has about 6200 PUDO points across the UK. PayPoint’s parcel services director Gary Winter has explained that the company has a resource to draw on – the 29,000 PayPoint stores that can extend their services to include CollectPlus as well. This would leave scope for CollectPlus expansion even after the target of 7,000 stores is reached.
“For stores equipped with PayPoint and CollectPlus,” Winter continued, “the parcel business is just one revenue stream of many. This makes the proposition more commercially viable, as costs can be met by the stores’ core activities. Furthermore, the parcel service will drive up demand for those core activities, as many customers who come into the shops to collect their parcels will also take the opportunity to stock up on groceries and other items.”
Alongside the expansion programme, PayPoint and Yodel are also in the process of opening up the CollectPlus network to make it “carrier agnostic”.
Last month, CollectPlus CEO Neil Ashworth said that conversations have been taking place with potential new partner carriers.
Today, Winter confirmed that they have been speaking to “the vast majority of the top ten carriers in the UK” and they hope to reveal the first partner carrier “during the summer” with a view to be “transacting before peak”.
Winter added that they hope to be in position to announce a second partner carrier by the end of this year. When that happens, CollectPlus will have the credentials to justify its new billing as an “open” parcel network. A network that is open to multiple carriers, multiple retailers and, most importantly, customers, who will appreciate the convenience of consolidating their parcel collections and returns.
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