Shutl: London start-up as rescuer of the stationary trade

Now comes Shutl. A London startup, which interlinked online and offline and could thus provide the retailer with an argument in the survival campaign against e-commerce: supplies, in less than 90 minutes and outstanding customer service. In doing so, the company relies on the dealers’ stores. “We are not a classic courier service, we are what Paypal is in the payment option,” says Guy Westlake, Marketingchef at Shutl.


Shutl does not employ a single courier driver. His business is the organization of the delivery, not the delivery itself. "We have access to thousands of couriers all over the country," explains Westlake. A software automatically determines in seconds, which courier receives an order. This is calculated according to various criteria: first of all, who is close to the store. Does the driver have the right vehicle for the job? Weight and dimensions, the software gets directly from the dealer's merchandise system. This avoids the need to send a bicycle courier to pick up a washing machine. But, last but not least, customer satisfaction in previous trips plays a big role in whether a driver receives the order or not. Whoever was unfriendly the last time and was given a bad customer rating, will have a hard time getting an order from Shutl.


Customer satisfaction is very important to us, "says Westlake." We stand by that name and hope that customers will be encouraged to order somewhere else when they see that we can deliver the delivery. "After assigning the order to a courier , The driver goes to the dealer's office, which is determined by the software, and by accessing the dealer's inventory system, the store knows all the items ordered, and the driver retrieves the goods and goes directly to the customer who is not More than 24 kilometers away from the store, as well as the software.


Although customers have the opportunity to get the goods delivered immediately, within a few hours, a courier commissioned by Shutl is then at the door. The customer can also specify a specific time window when the courier can deliver the goods. And if something goes wrong, this is no problem for Shutl. "We wait 10 minutes before the door of the customer, if this is not at home," says Westlake. "Our customer service then calls the customer and clarifies what should happen with the goods." Most of the problems could be solved with a call, says Westlake. But even if the customer is not available, Shutl simply takes the goods back with them and as soon as they have reached the customer. "But it almost never happens," he says.


In addition, you can shop online at some UK stores and get the goods within a few hours thanks to Shutl - electronics retailer Maplin offers Shutl just as much as the shoe chain shoe or the catalog retailer Argos. But also who has forgotten the gift for the boss's birthday, will be able to deliver chocolate, champagne or flowers within 90 minutes.


The Oasis fashion chain has been offering Shutl as a delivery option in their online shop for more than a year. £ 7.99 (around € 9.30) will pay customers for service with a basket of under £ 75 (€ 88). If the purchase value is over, the customer does not pay anything for their Shutl delivery. "We are delighted to be able to offer Shutl," said Briony Garbett, Head of Customer Satisfaction & E-Commerce at Oasis. The company has nearly 500 stores worldwide, including 80 in the UK. Within one year, the purchase volume of Shutl orders at Oasis rose by 256 percent.


"With Shutl, we have an offer that our competitors do not have," says Garbett, although the introduction was relatively easy, even if different departments had to be involved in the process - from the shops to the marketing. " Which we use for our merchandise system. Shutl put it on. In our case this works so that the driver gets on his mobile phone a shopping voucher with the goods value of the order. This is how we can easily calculate it in the shop. "According to Shutl, the integration of the new shipping route - from the software adjustment to the customer information - takes about six to eight weeks, according to Shutl.


In 85 percent of the kingdom, Shutl supplies goods underneath. Condition: There must be no more than 24 kilometers between the customer and the retail store so that the business is worthwhile for Shutl and the goods are fast enough for the customer. "There are some areas in the Scottish highlands," says Westlake, but otherwise you have a very good coverage in the UK. At the end of October it was announced that Shutl was bought by Ebay. Within the next six months Shutl wants to be available in 30 American cities. In New York and Chigaco, for example, Shutl already exists today.


Also the American market want to conquer the London 2017. Oasis, which has a business in Munich and is planning further American branches, is also looking forward to it. "the United States is a key market for us, we have the system already, we will in any case consider to offer Shutl to our customers in the United States."


However, the British will face local competition. Tiramizoo tries a similar business model. Over 1,200 cooperate with the Munich start-up, which last summer received an investment in the single-digit million range from the logistics company DPD. Competitor DHL is now experimenting with a food service, which in Bochum every evening supplies to the doorstep. Power Shutl 2017 Ernst in the United States, this market is likely to break open.