Parcelink helps Bargain Homeware to remain competitive

The long length items the blinds and window furnishings company sends out required a tailored yet cost-effective logistics provider and Corby-based firm Parcelink fitted the bill.

Bargain Homeware’s Managing Director and co-founder Sophie Hughes said: “Other carriers use conveyor belts that the packages cannot go around – but Parcelink sorts them manually.”

“They accommodate for that longer length at a reasonable price and always turn up and on time.”

Sophie also praised the flexibility of the service Parcelink offers, “They don’t impose conditions, they work around you,” she said.

Parcelink even integrated its IT system with the one used by Bargain Homeware to streamline procedures.

“We often get unexpected larger orders and they’ll happily send two vans at short notice,” she added.

Uniquely, Parcelink operates without a hub and has instead invested in a fleet of vans that collect from customers.

Staff then manually sort the goods and then take them on to individual Yodel depots for the final mile delivery to end customers.

This innovative method means the operation is streamlined and requires minimal handling – while damages, mis-routes and mis-sorts are virtually non-existent.

Parcelink also offers customers complete transparency by using Citipost’s IT platform to allow customers to see their delivery in real-time on the website – all the way from point of order through to delivery.

Sarah Squire set up Parcelink in September 2015 and quickly identified that customers needed a cost-effective choice for awkward long and thin deliveries – such as curtain poles.

She said: “We love working with Bargain Homeware and have made it our mission to truly understand the delivery challenges they face.

“By working closely together we’ve developed a mutually-beneficial relationship and we look forward to going forward together in the future.”

The firm aims to double its turnover and become a major UK logistics player in 2018.