Clipper and John Lewis set up Click & Collect joint venture
Clipper Logistics and John Lewis have set up a new joint venture company, which builds on their existing Click & Collect operations to provide a multi-retailer next-day delivery service into high street stores.
In a statement published in the Market News section of the London Stock Exchange website yesterday (2 November), Clipper said: “The Joint Venture customer proposition has been developed by Clipper following extensive research by the two partners into the specific needs of retailers in addressing the ever-growing Click & Collect demands of consumers.
“This includes timed delivery to store in a retailer-friendly format, integration with retailers’ customer service systems to provide customer and store updates, text messaging to retailers’ end customers, and delivery into store in roll cages with clear ‘parent and child’ relationships between the cage and the parcel in order to facilitate rapid parcel selection.”
Clipper will operate the service while John Lewis will provide the “expertise and insight into the retail market” – and it will also be a key customer of the service.
As previously reported, John Lewis and Clipper have already been working together on Click & Collect deliveries since the fourth quarter of 2015 – with a trial that started in 120 Waitrose stores and has since been expanded nationwide to over 300 outlets.
Now, this Click & Collect solution will be extended to other retailers’ stores. Indeed, Clipper revealed that a “a number of other customers are already using the service”.
Funding for the joint venture will be provided on a 50/50 basis by John Lewis and Clipper, and profits will be shared between the parties on the same basis.
Commenting on the transaction, Steve Parkin, Executive Chairman of Clipper, said: “This is a truly ground-breaking development which will revolutionise the provision of Click & Collect services to the High Street in Britain. We are delighted to have worked closely with our partners, John Lewis, to research and develop this unique service proposition which will address directly the challenges posed to retailers in this rapidly growing area of activity. The service is another demonstration of Clipper’s ability to rapidly solve challenges posed to retailers, using our unparalleled understanding of the retail sector.”
Dino Rocos, Operations Director of John Lewis, added: “Click & Collect continues to be our fastest-growing delivery channel, with deliveries to Waitrose making up the majority of those sales. This joint venture will provide a much more tailored service so that Click & Collect orders which reach Waitrose branches are handled in a more efficient way. It will enable us to continue to give an outstanding service to our customers, who love this easy and convenient delivery option.”
