DPD and Doddle team-up for smart commute and collect service

Commute and collect parcel shop group Doddle has joined forces with the UK’s favourite parcel delivery company DPD, as part of the rapidly growing DPD Pickup network launching on June 22nd.

Doddle, which has 34 dedicated parcel stores nationwide, will join DPD’s collect and return network, to give DPD customers even more options, with key locations such as Waterloo Station, Cannon Street, Victoria and Westfield Stratford shopping centre.

Doddle launched in September 2014 as a joint venture between Network Rail and Lloyd Dorfman and has already announced plans to expand to around 100 stores by the end of this year. Its shops are fully manned, open 7 days a week early until late and many include changing rooms.

DPD Pickup aims to transform ‘collect and return’ by truly integrating it into the purchasing and delivery processes and offering customers a greatly improved parcel shop experience. >From June, DPD Pickup locations will be available as an alternative to home delivery, giving consumers even more choice and flexibility.

In addition, DPD Pickup will be one of the ‘in-flight’ options available in DPD’s text and email notifications, which are sent ahead of a scheduled home delivery. So if customers aren’t going to be at home they can divert their delivery to a DPD Pickup point for collection at a time that suits them.

DPD’s CEO Dwain McDonald commented: “Doddle is a great fit with DPD Pickup and I’m delighted to be able to offer their service as part of our network. We set out to give our customers a much better parcel shop experience and that’s exactly what Doddle does. Their shops look great, their staff are really helpful and they are in fantastic locations. One of our core objectives was to have shops located within five minutes of most people in London, and working with Doddle gives us some fantastic locations in the capital.

“DPD Pickup is all about helping to put our customers in control of where and when their parcel is delivered and giving them even more choice. Doddle shops are accessible, easy to use and have the capacity to handle very large volumes of parcels. When you couple that with our Predict and Follow My Parcel services you get a very smart proposition indeed, and a great customer experience.”

Tim Robinson, Doddle CEO said: “Doddle stores are strategically located in and around major UK train stations, to make parcel collection and delivery something customers can do quickly and easily as part of their commute. Retailers are now more focussed than ever on giving their shoppers the best delivery experience possible. DPD’s home delivery service is held in very high regard by retailers, but by teaming up I think we can offer both retailers and parcel recipients an unbeatable proposition.”

Doddle will join Halfords and the Rowlands and Numark Pharmacy chains already signed up under DPD’s plans announced in January. Further retail partners are likely to be announced in the coming weeks as DPD builds a network of 2,500 parcel shops located at retail outlets that are within ten minutes of most people in the UK.

DPD is the fastest growing major parcel delivery company in the UK and has created over 4,000 new jobs in the last five years as a result of unprecedented growth and £250m worth of UK investment. Construction of DPD’s new £100m parcel hub at Hinckley in the East Midlands is now complete. The facility, which will be the largest of its kind in Europe, is on schedule to open later in 2015, creating another 1,000 permanent full-time jobs.