Over the past couple of years any conference on convenience convenience retailing would have been practically guarenteed to feature at least one speaker waxing lyrical about how the humble c-store could harness the power of the internet.
Just because the average c-store couldn't compete with Tesco.com, it would have been argued, it could still get a piece of the action by acting as a pick-up point for goods ordered over the net.
Failing that, c-stores could always weld a set of lockers to their store so that online shoppers could come and collect their purchases themselves. Either way, footfall would get a boost, and each parcel handled would generate a fee a nice little earner. However, as the pioneers in the e-fulfilment' field have learned to their cost, the chances of making a fast buck out of the last mile are pretty slim. Most traffic in online shopping is in multi-temperature groceries inherently unsuitable for c-stores to handle and equally unsuited to being dumped in a box outside a property for an unspecified period.
Most consumers are unwilling to pay several hundred pounds for a multi-temperature box, and not many c-stores are equipped or inclined to handle groceries ordered from rivals.
So what has happened to the e-fulfilment pioneers? Casualties are high. London-based M-box has admitted that former clients such as B&Q, Comet and Virgin, were not interested in using the convenience store network as a fulfilment channel, while Dropzone's founder Lynda Wallace threw in the towel after an abortive c-store trial in Reading. Urbandrop abandoned plans to use c-stores as pick-up points, and struck a deal with ANC to sort and deliver packages at an east London warehouse for direct delivery to business and residential properties.
The smart operators, meanwhile, have turned their attention to spare parts, which, while not as sexy as groceries, are far more lucrative. Spar has teamed up with Texaco's package delivery division, RelayStar, to give service engineering and IT support companies a more efficient way of getting tools to field engineers by dropping them off at the Spar nearest to the next job.
Collectpoint, with more than 3,000 c-stores, off licences and forecourts acting as pick-up points, has struck similar deals with companies and claims the number of parcels through its network doubles each month.
Those pushing the unattended delivery box option are also pumping cash into business clients. Bearbox, which generates pin codes to give carriers access to secure boxes or lockers, has installed about 160 boxes at 90 sites and plan an additional 1,000 this year. Customers such as TNT and AXA pay Bearbox weekly to drop off parts at the lockers, which in turn generate a rental income plus footfall, says Bearbox CEO John Hale.
Rival Homeport, meanwhile, is targeting any business that takes deliveries at antisocial hours, such as newsagents and restaurants, so staff do not need to be on the premises to handle them. Focusing exclusively on b2c customers would be commercial suicide; says operations director Romain Bertrand, "the traffic just isn't there".
Verdict analyst Steve Gotham says: "Supermarkets were excited about unattended delivery boxes, but they have not taken off. Major grocery retailers offer a two-hour delivery slot, so customers are prepared to wait at home. The volume in non-perishables meanwhile, is insufficient for much business."
However, Giraffe Marketing, the company behind the home delivery container Hippobox, insists that e-fulfilment is not dead. Founder Charles Gallichan says there are 6,500 Hippoboxes attached to homes in the UK and demand is strong in Scotland, the Midlands and the West Country. "This is something that requires people to adopt a new behaviour pattern, so we were never going to sell thousands in the first year. But there is a market out there. Perhaps 18 months ago, the biggest fear surrounding online shopping was credit card fraud. Today, the worry is, will I be in to receive my package?"
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Just because the average c-store couldn't compete with Tesco.com, it would have been argued, it could still get a piece of the action by acting as a pick-up point for goods ordered over the net.
Failing that, c-stores could always weld a set of lockers to their store so that online shoppers could come and collect their purchases themselves. Either way, footfall would get a boost, and each parcel handled would generate a fee a nice little earner. However, as the pioneers in the e-fulfilment' field have learned to their cost, the chances of making a fast buck out of the last mile are pretty slim. Most traffic in online shopping is in multi-temperature groceries inherently unsuitable for c-stores to handle and equally unsuited to being dumped in a box outside a property for an unspecified period.
Most consumers are unwilling to pay several hundred pounds for a multi-temperature box, and not many c-stores are equipped or inclined to handle groceries ordered from rivals.
So what has happened to the e-fulfilment pioneers? Casualties are high. London-based M-box has admitted that former clients such as B&Q, Comet and Virgin, were not interested in using the convenience store network as a fulfilment channel, while Dropzone's founder Lynda Wallace threw in the towel after an abortive c-store trial in Reading. Urbandrop abandoned plans to use c-stores as pick-up points, and struck a deal with ANC to sort and deliver packages at an east London warehouse for direct delivery to business and residential properties.
The smart operators, meanwhile, have turned their attention to spare parts, which, while not as sexy as groceries, are far more lucrative. Spar has teamed up with Texaco's package delivery division, RelayStar, to give service engineering and IT support companies a more efficient way of getting tools to field engineers by dropping them off at the Spar nearest to the next job.
Collectpoint, with more than 3,000 c-stores, off licences and forecourts acting as pick-up points, has struck similar deals with companies and claims the number of parcels through its network doubles each month.
Those pushing the unattended delivery box option are also pumping cash into business clients. Bearbox, which generates pin codes to give carriers access to secure boxes or lockers, has installed about 160 boxes at 90 sites and plan an additional 1,000 this year. Customers such as TNT and AXA pay Bearbox weekly to drop off parts at the lockers, which in turn generate a rental income plus footfall, says Bearbox CEO John Hale.
Rival Homeport, meanwhile, is targeting any business that takes deliveries at antisocial hours, such as newsagents and restaurants, so staff do not need to be on the premises to handle them. Focusing exclusively on b2c customers would be commercial suicide; says operations director Romain Bertrand, "the traffic just isn't there".
Verdict analyst Steve Gotham says: "Supermarkets were excited about unattended delivery boxes, but they have not taken off. Major grocery retailers offer a two-hour delivery slot, so customers are prepared to wait at home. The volume in non-perishables meanwhile, is insufficient for much business."
However, Giraffe Marketing, the company behind the home delivery container Hippobox, insists that e-fulfilment is not dead. Founder Charles Gallichan says there are 6,500 Hippoboxes attached to homes in the UK and demand is strong in Scotland, the Midlands and the West Country. "This is something that requires people to adopt a new behaviour pattern, so we were never going to sell thousands in the first year. But there is a market out there. Perhaps 18 months ago, the biggest fear surrounding online shopping was credit card fraud. Today, the worry is, will I be in to receive my package?"
{{ANALYSIS }}
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