Shutl, the home delivery startup that offers speedier options for Internet shoppers, has now launched its service for Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff and Liverpool.
This adds up to 40% of the UK’s online shoppers, says Tom Allason, founder and CEO of Shutl.
Retailers include Argos, Karen Millen, Oasis, Coast and Warehouse with other major high street names expected to follow suit shortly. It already operates in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, London and Manchester.
The service allows shoppers to receive online purchases from high street retailers in as little as 90 minutes or to choose a one-hour delivery window, same day or any day. Shutl does this by fulfilling web orders from local stores rather than a centralised warehouse.
Once a customer selects Shutl as their delivery option, including agreeing to the delivery quote, they can track their order in ‘real-time’ via a GPS-powered online map. Independent courier companies upload pricing to Shutl’s service to automatically bid on deliveries from retail partners. Shuttle looks at past performance and consumer feedback to select the appropriate carrier for each delivery.
A Shutl delivery begins from £4.95. Amazon’s Evening Delivery service in London and Birmingham costs £14.99 and only offers a three-hour window providing orders are received before 12.30pm.
Shutl was founded by Tom Allason, who is a founder and former CEO of eCourier.co.uk. It announced £0.5m in Angel investment in October 09 from Simon Murdoch and Big Bang Ventures in Belgium, along with the likes of Bebo co-founder Paul Birch, Robert Dighero (formerly of QXL) and Mark Zaleski (former DailyMotion CEO).