ByBox closes consumer parcel locker business myByBox
UK parcel locker delivery company ByBox has decided to close down its business-to-consumer operation, myByBox. The business, in which consumers could have e-commerce purchases delivered to local parcel locker terminals for 24-hour collection, had operated for seven years.
Coventry-based ByBox said this week that any consumers who still have parcels to pick up will have until Friday 13th February to collect items.
Customers with credit remaining on their account at this deadline will be refunded, the firm added.
When it was launched in 2008-9, myByBox offered Click and Collect services for all retailers, without the need for integration. The service launch came ahead of the UK’s first major parcel shop network, CollectPlus, which was launched by carrier Yodel in 2009.
Since then, parcel shops have been launched by carriers Hermes and UPS, as well as rail infrastructure firm Network Rail. Parcel carrier DPD will set up a parcel shop network for a June 2015 launch.
myByBox has also seen new competition from Post Office Ltd’s click and collect offering with Royal Mail, and from Polish-owned parcel locker network InPost UK.
B2B refocus
Commenting on the decision to close myByBox, ByBox said it came after a period of “strong performance” in its business-to-business parcel locker operations, and would allow it to focus on that area.
It will see ByBox concentrating on field support services for businesses, and technical services.
Growth has come recently in the B2B field with the acquisitions of echo Ltd in 2013 and DX Business Direct last year.
“While we’re disappointed to discontinue the myByBox service, we felt it was time to choose the sectors where we would be making key strategic investments to drive our next phase of growth,” said Stuart Miller, chief executive and co-founder of ByBox Group.
“We decided to focus on our market leading offerings in field support, technical services and global locker technology. Our recent acquisitions, a host of new clients and expanded services drove us on in 2014. By aligning our efforts at the start of the year we hope to offer our clients a more efficient and rapid service, throughout 2015 and beyond.”
ByBox was originally founded in February 2000, and in 2013 generated a turnover of about £65m with 450 employees.
