Royal Mail to launch Click and Collect network
Royal Mail has announced that it is to launch a Click and Collect network aimed at online retailers and their customers.
The organisation said the network will launch later this year and will be the biggest of its kind in the UK as it will use the Post Office network to provide parcel collection facilities. With 99% of the UK population living within three miles of a Post Office, around 10,500 Post Office branches will take part in the initiative.
Nick Landon, managing director of Royal Mail Parcels, said: “Royal Mail is a key partner for online retailers and we are well placed to benefit from the growth in e-retailing. Home shoppers already love our services. The Click and Collect initiative will help online retailers give shoppers even greater control over the delivery of their items. We are committed to developing services to ensure we meet the changing demands of online retailers and their customers.”
Royal Mail added that Post Office branches will open for longer and that more than 4,000 branches will offer access to items ordered through Click and Collect outside the usual Post Office opening hours.
The organisation is in discussions with a number of large online retailers about integrating the service into their websites later this year. The service will be extended to smaller retailers in 2014.
