CollectPlus posts first full year of profit
CollectPlus, the UK’s largest store-based parcel delivery and returns service, today announced its first full year of profit (£1.8 million) for the 52 weeks ending 31 March 2014, with record full year revenues of £34.1 million on a volume of 13.6 million parcels. The results were driven by significant volume uplift across all of CollectPlus’ three services; Click & Collect, Send and Returns. Year-on-year total revenue growth across the three services was reported at 143% for Send, 77% for Returns and 74% for Click & Collect. With the CollectPlus store network growing by 6% to 5,580 sites during the 2013/14 reporting period, growth was driven by greater adoption of CollectPlus services with more and more people using it to send parcels or when collecting or returning online shopping. CollectPlus’ commercial service performance was enhanced by significant customer wins contributing to a 26% growth in the CollectPlus client base, which is now made up of more than 260 participating retail brands.
Commenting on the results, Neil Ashworth, CEO of CollectPlus, said: “We are extremely proud to achieve such strong growth as we approach our fifth birthday and at a time when the market is maturing and becoming increasingly competitive. Our growth has been driven by more and more people using our services as we become the go-to delivery brand for them when they need to send a parcel or shop online.
“As the market has matured, so too have the needs of our customers and our growth over the last twelve months has been underpinned by our ability to understand and anticipate those needs. A major contributing factor to the appeal of online shopping is the convenience it affords the shopper. Our customers tell us that it is increasingly important for them to have control over the fulfilment and delivery element of their web purchases and, with 63% of shoppers more likely to use a retailer who offers delivery to a convenient collection point, CollectPlus, with its network of parcel stores throughout the UK, is ideally suited to take advantage of this.
“This is an exciting time for us as a business, and over the next twelve months we will be expanding our network by a further 33% – from over 5,500 to 7,500 stores, making us almost two thirds the size of the Post Office. Our longer term aspiration is to achieve 12,000 stores and become a more convenient and accessible alternative to the Post Office in terms of opening hours and locations.
In the year ending 31 March 2014, CollectPlus continued to grow its market share by adding new products to its Send service, including a ‘Standard’ 48hr Send offering and new larger parcel dimensions, which have contributed to the 143% total revenue growth of the service. This growth has been further fuelled by integration into marketplace sites such as eBay and Amazon, with research showing that 92% of CollectPlus customers plan to use the Send service again.
Over the last financial year, the CollectPlus store network has expanded in anticipation of consumer demand for convenient delivery and collection points. These include Collect+@Westfield, which offers shoppers a click-and-collect service at the west London shopping centre and allows them to try on web purchases before they take them home; plus a partnership with Parcel Motel offering an international returns service to give online shoppers in the Republic of Ireland a way to send unwanted items back to UK retailers.
Seventy-six per cent of TrustPilot reviews rate the CollectPlus service as five star, whilst the latest research from CollectPlus reveals that 86% of people who have used the service rate its convenience and value for money highly, with 63% using it more now than they did a year ago.
CollectPlus is a joint venture between PayPoint, the UK’s multi-channel payments company, and the delivery company, Yodel.
