CollectPlus offers click and collect and returns at University Union
CollectPlus, the UK’s largest store-based parcel delivery and returns company, today announced the launch of Click&Collect+ and its returns service at Leeds University on campus convenience store, Essentials. Located in a high-foot fall area of the Students’ Union, the store has seen a 35% month-on-month growth during term time* in the volume of parcels it has handled since it opened in January 2014, with an 85% uplift in May during the exam period. Click and collect in particular has proven popular amongst students with Essentials processing 8% more Click&Collect+ parcels than the average store in the CollectPlus network. With students now returning for the new academic year, Essentials is gearing up for another term of strong growth in the number of parcels going through its doors.
It is a trend that has been embraced by students at the University of Leeds, who are choosing to click and collect between lectures instead of getting their online purchases sent to their student accommodation. CollectPlus also works with over 260 retail brands to offer students a tracked returns service, to send unwanted purchases back to the retailer.
Following the opening of CollectPlus@Westfield and click and collect hubs at community shopping centres The Mall Camberley and the Kingfisher Shopping Centre in Redditch, the store at the Leeds University Students’ Union is an example of another CollectPlus parcel pick up and drop off point established outside of its traditional convenience store base.
Catherine Woolfe, Marketing Director at CollectPlus, said: “Our partnership with Leeds University Students’ Union gives students a great way to collect and return goods simply and easily. With online shopping very popular amongst the student demographic who have grown up with the internet and expect convenience, there’s proven to be a huge appetite for click and collect and returns services on campus. As part of our expansion strategy, we are looking to find new types of locations that suit customers’ busy and variable lifestyles as a means of further improving the delivery experience for them.”
Essentials is a high footfall store with thousands of students passing through its doors every week, buying everyday items such as milk, bread, magazines and stationery. In joining the CollectPlus network, the store is now able to offer students a convenient way to collect and return their online shopping whilst they are on campus, including first thing in the morning before lectures or after a late night study session in the library, thanks to its 8.30am to 10pm Monday to Saturday opening hours, and12pm to 9.30pm on Sundays.
Essentials store manager, Diane Harvey added:“Many of the students who use the CollectPlus service are regular customers, so for them it’s easy to pick up a parcel while they are buying their basics. We’re also open every day, unlike most Post Offices, so since introducing CollectPlus’ services, we’ve seen some new faces, which is great. As well as the convenience offered by click and collect, the option to return items for free also appeals to our students, who are often on tight budgets.”
It’s not just customers who benefit from these services. According to research by CollectPlus, almost two-thirds (64%) of customers who collect a parcel from a store on its network are visiting it for the first time, and while in store, 50% of them make an additional purchase.
The average click and collect customer spends £3.42 in store while collecting a parcel and 22% will spend more than £5. Over the course of a year this adds up to an average of £2,712 extra revenue. Of the customers who use the CollectPlus service, 80% state that the visit has encouraged them to use the store again.
CollectPlus is a joint venture between PayPoint, the leading retail payment network, and the UK’s leading independent parcel carrier, Yodel.
