Royal Mail acquires e-commerce software producer StoreFeeder

Britain’s Royal Mail has acquired the software company that built its online shipping tool, Click and Drop. The postal operator privatised last October said yesterday that acquiring StoreFeeder will boost its efforts to help customers connect with parcel shipping services online through online tools and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).

Nottingham-based StoreFeeder has been operating about 10 years, providing e-commerce software that includes features like order management, stock control, smart warehousing and courier integration for web merchants.

The company developed Royal Mail’s consumer and small business shipping tool, Click and Drop, for launch in October 2014.

Royal Mail did not disclose the financial terms of its acquisition, and said StoreFeeder will continue to operate in the same way for its existing clients.

Nick Landon, Managing Director of Royal Mail Parcels, said: “Having successfully developed and launched our new shipping tool which has worked very effectively through the busy Christmas period, the acquisition of StoreFeeder was a clear strategic choice. I’m delighted that we will now be able to accelerate the development and release of even more tools to make shipping parcels with Royal Mail easier and more convenient.”

Royal Mail said its Click and Drop service, which allows eBay sellers to integrate their accounts with shipping services, and generate postage labels through an automated system, now offers Paypal as a payment method along with credit and debit cards.