If you’re a slave to the office, being able to shop for goods on the internet is ideal – except when you’re never in to take a delivery, and returns are too much hard work.
Two years ago Doddle set out to change all that by putting “click and commute” parcel collection points in train stations, as well as other high-footfall locations. For office workers too busy to get to these stores, it then introduced its “Runners” who will come to wherever you are to pick up your parcel and send it.
Its latest innovation, Doddle Neighbour, which launched in February, is a logical extension of that – residents can opt for their homes to become pick-up points, in return for payment. People only need to go as far as a neighbour’s house to collect their parcels.
“It’s a professional take on something that happens anyway – leaving parcels with a neighbour if you’re out,” explains Tim Robinson, Doddle’s founder and CEO.
Neighbours make 50p per parcel. “For 20 hours’ availability per week handling lots of eBay parcels, this could add up to £6,000-7,000 a year,” he says. The arrangement could work for parents of young children, or retirees, who find themselves at home a lot – and can also earn £5 each time they recruit a new Doddle user.
Still in pilot phase, the scheme accounts for 50,000 of the 2.5m parcels Doddle expects to handle this year; 41 households are currently on board.
Under the new model, Doddle Neighbours collect parcels from a store for local residents. The company has packaged its store technology to run on a tablet, so the Neighbour service extends the same scanning and tracking facilities, along with a messaging platform allowing the customer and neighbour to liaise about the parcel handover.
Robinson, formerly managing director of Network Rail for Sussex, says: “The technology can do some amazing stuff. The unknown part is how this will go down with communities.”
According to Martin Newman, CEO and founder of e-commerce consultancy Practicology, financially compensating neighbours for handling other people’s parcels is a good thing, but comes with potential challenges. “One issue to consider is what this creates in terms of a contract or sense of responsibility for the neighbour,” he says. “Will they be obligated to stay in at certain times, or have insurance in case of break-in, for example?” Another area of concern, he adds “might be the scope for fraud – parcels going missing, for example. So all of that needs to be thought through.”
Isabel Fox, head of venture capital at White Cloud Capital, believes Doddle’s ability to scale up the scheme will be crucial. “Ensuring a strong network of ‘neighbours’ in each area is essential as people don’t want to have to travel far to collect or drop off. The biggest challenge will be rolling out nationwide so there are plenty of local easy options, and ensuring a consistent, reliable and safe service to make it a sustainable new offering.”
Doddle isn’t the only company to have spotted the potential for last-mile logistics services: it’s a field that has seen plenty of innovation, from a DHL pilot where deliveries are made to people’s car boots, to smart mailboxes that take deliveries and alert the consumer via an accompanying app.
But Doddle has found its niche where demand for convenience is highest. For retailers – Amazon, Asos, Warehouse, boohoo.com and Gap are among current partners – its services remove barriers to sales, such as unpredictable service and convoluted returns, as well as the cost of second-attempt deliveries. For carriers, it can make the last leg more cost- and time-efficient (and greener), reducing the number of stop points.
Set up as dedicated facilities (rather than a shared counter in a corner shop), Doddle hubs can process up to 3,000 parcels at a time, taking 90 seconds to retrieve an item from the in-store warehouse. Customers, Runners and Neighbours do the rest.
But are rising last-mile expectations sustainable? Robinson says consumers tend to get excited when something new comes to the market – for example Amazon’s one-hour delivery service, Prime Now. “It does up the level of expectation,” he says. “But that was a huge investment for Amazon, involving tens of depots around London. Other retailers don’t have that capacity.” Economy delivery, taking two to three days, still accounts for most shipments.
“After all, how urgently does someone really need a pair of jeans, and are they really going to pay a £6 premium to have them the same day?”
Doddle is looking for a new investor, having parted from Network Rail last year when it came under pressure to divest non-core activities. The business’s other investor, entrepreneur Lloyd Dorfman, bought out Network Rail’s share and has since been Doddle’s sole source of investment. The company now employs 400 people and has raised £45m raised to date.
“It isn’t just about the money though,” Robinson says, of its ideal new investor. “A parcel carrier or logistics business would help broaden our reach.” The company is also exploring concession options with a leading grocer as well as a couple of high-street retailers; 2016 is expected to be the first billion-parcel year, and Doddle wants its share.
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