Asos, New Look and TM Lewin sign up to new rail station delivery service
Asos, New Look and TM Lewin are some of the first retailers to sign up to a new service which will enable shoppers to pick up their parcels from hundreds of rail stations across the UK.
Doddle, a joint venture between Network Rail and Travelex founder Lloyd Dorfman, has announced plans to offer a click and collect service at 300 locations within the next three years. The move follows a successful pilot at Milton Keynes station by Network Rail employees and local businesses such as Santander.
Online fashion retailer Asos will initially use the service for returns to over 40,000 customers in the Milton Keynes region. Others retailers to sign up include New Look, Countrywide Farmers and TM Lewin.
Open seven days a week, the first five new Doddle shops will be situated at London Waterloo, Bromley South, Brighton, Chelmsford and London Cannon Street. The outlets will be housed in dedicated retail units at the stations or within built–to-order facilities.
Never Miss a Retail Update!Doddle will be headed up by Tim Robinson, who was previously route managing director, Sussex at Network Rail and has been responsible for driving the development of the Doddle concept within the business.
Robinson said: “Doddle was created to capitalise on the booming online retail market and the increasing demands by customers for more convenient delivery solutions. It offers a premium service that is unique in the marketplace with dedicated and stylish shops, advanced technology and highly trained staff delivering a high-end customer experience. It is the next major step in the online shopping phenomenon, providing a parcel collection, returns and delivery service that has customer choice and convenience at its very heart.”
Robin Gisby, Network Rail’s managing director for network operations, added: “More people are travelling by rail than ever before and stations have become more than just a place to wait for, or get off a train. We’ve adapted to passengers’ changing needs and now offer quality retail, food and drink at our biggest stations, such as London Waterloo.
“Introducing Doddle to stations will enable us to reinvest our profits back into the railway and is a natural next step to help passengers and people who work and live near stations, whose lives are increasingly busy and on the move.”
The service is expected to create around 3,000 new jobs.
