ByBox partners with Shop Direct Group
By Retail Technology | Wednesday September 25 2013
Partnership launches locker returns service for major British retailers, cutting costs from reverse supply chain management and streamlining customer service
UK online and home shopping retailer Shop Direct Group has appointed ByBox, a provider of delivery lockers for online shoppers, to offer a simple and convenient returns service across its portfolio of retail brands.
Under the agreement, which is now fully live, customers of Shop Direct brands, Littlewoods.com, Very, Isme, K&Co and Very.co.uk (formerly Woolworths.co.uk), are able to return unwanted items to one of over 500 ByBox locker locations across the UK, available 24-hours a day and completely free of charge.
Offering customer convenience
ByBox provides locker services for online shoppers to receive and return parcels for when waiting for a courier or travelling to postal depots is impractical or impossible. This is set to augment the Shop Direct Group returns process, affording its customers the added flexibility to conveniently drop-off their returns at lockers located on sites such as local supermarkets, shopping centres and petrol stations, as well as their local High Street.
Customers book their delivery (at no charge) through myByBox.com, print out a label and return it to their local ByBox locker for collection any time, day or night.
Jim Roebuck, logistics director at Shop Direct Group, commented: “Offering our customers as much flexibility as possible is a crucial part of our success as an online retailer and our returns process plays a huge role in that.
Returns integral to online success
"We already provide our customers with an extensive range of options including Collect +, Royal Mail and ‘collect from home’ and our partnership with ByBox will give our customers even more choice and variety.”
For ByBox, the roll out of its technology to Shop Direct Group’s five million customers further increases its position as the dominant delivery locker provider in the UK.
Stuart Miller, chief executive and co-founder of ByBox, added: “Shop Direct Group is one of the major names in British retail, so it’s fantastic that they have seen the advantages that our technology can offer. At ByBox we are always looking to work with businesses that are not only keen to innovate as much as we are, but that also place the customer right at the heart of their offering. We therefore have no doubt that this deal signals the start of a fruitful partnership for both parties.”