DPD CEO prepares for a click & collect Christmas

DPD's CEO Dwain McDonald believes the recent addition of Sainsbury's to the firm's DPD Pickup parcel shop network will give it a further advantage during the approaching Peak Christmas period.

Last month, Sainsbury's revealed plans to launch up to 200 newly-designed digital Click & Collect points in stores across the UK. The initiative will mean that customers will be able to pick up their DPD parcel deliveries from a Sainsbury's store near them.

The new Click & Collect points will serve as a one-stop destination for Sainsbury's customers wanting to collect online orders while doing the rest of their shopping. Tablets will be available in all the new Click & Collect points to enable customers to 'check in' digitally, which will significantly speed up the time it takes from arriving in store to receiving parcels for collection.

DPD Pickup launched in June 2015 with the aim of transforming the parcel shop experience by truly integrating it into the purchasing and delivery processes and offering customers a greatly improved customer service. Currently, DPD customers can collect parcels from over 2,500 DPD Pickup shops including Halfords, Doddle and the Rowlands and Numark Pharmacy chains.

DPD Pickup is one of the 'in-flight' options available in DPD's Predict text and email notifications, which are sent ahead of a scheduled home delivery. So if customers aren't going to be at home they can divert their delivery to a DPD Pickup point for collection at a time that suits them.

DPD's CEO Dwain McDonald commented: "DPD Pickup has been a fantastic addition to the real time, in-flight options we offer customers, and Sainsbury's fits perfectly with what we are trying to do. The in-store experience is excellent and DPD customers will have the reassurance of

knowing their parcel has been securely stored for them. In addition, they will have the convenience of parking, the new speedy Click & Collect digital checkouts and being able to do other shopping at the same time.

"With Peak approaching, this is another important development for us. I think click & collect is going to be huge again this Christmas and when you can select your local Sainsbury's from the list of available DPD Pickup stores, you can just see people combining that with a bit of Christmas food shopping or some last minute gift buying."

In May this year, DPD launched the Your DPD app which enables customers to set their own delivery preferences including the ability to request that drivers always avoid certain times of the day, such as the school run. The app was followed in July by DPD Precise which allows customers to select their own, exact one-hour delivery slot on the day of their choosing.

Precise was initially launched with online fashion retailer ASOS and has since been rolled out to more retailers including New Look and Boohoo.

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