Paris to London express delivery launch
St Pancras Renaissance Hotel is supporting the LivingPackets delivery service
Startup company LivingPackets has launched a pilot express delivery service between London and Paris.
In a statement sent to Post&Parcel today (5 December), the company said that it is harnessing the power of the Sharing Economy and “individual traveller networks”.
The company explained how the service would work: “A sender books a delivery via the LivingPackets mobile app, and deposits the item himself or asks for a pick up. The item is then delivered to a designated point near the international train terminal at Kings Cross St Pancras and is placed in a secure bag by the LivingPackets security operators (called “the Guardians”). A traveller participating in the LivingPackets network is automatically notified and will pick up the bag on his way to the platform. The process is fully automated and takes just a few hours from the pick-up to delivery.”
The service, therefore, is not dissimilar to the one offered by PiggyBee – which Post&Parcel featured in June 2016.
The LivingPackets service does have an important extra dimension: patented “intelligent” bags which feature a camera, shock and temperature sensors, real-time tracking, electronic lock, Bluetooth. This gives extra assurance to both the sender of the item, and the traveller.
The firm has also secured support from the five-star St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, which will be offering the service to its customers. St Pancras Renaissance will initially use the LivingPackets service in order to return lost and left-behind items to hotel guests.
Salvatore Bartolone, Head Concierge at St Pancras Renaissance, commented: “We are very happy to be working with LivingPackets, whose innovative delivery model will now allow us to offer a Premium service to all our clients to deliver their belongings to Paris in just a few hours and at a reasonable price.”
Marie Le Page, LivingPackets CEO in the UK, commented: “We see a huge demand for fast, affordable and reliable deliveries from online retailers and luxury brands. With no existing alternative to the established and aging international logistics practices, there is a lot of room for young and disruptive ‘sharing economy’ players like LivingPackets to step in.”
LivingPackets said that it is currently talking to major transport and logistics companies about potential cooperation. The company is initially focusing on Western Europe and is “soon planning” to add Brussels, Düsseldorf, Lille, Lyon and Marseille to its list of destinations.
LivingPackets is funded by a “crowdsharing model” – and it will be sharing 50% of its profits with its “Sharing Angels” over a five year period.
