The events of 2009 have been met with a mixed sense of excitement and trepidation. There can be no doubt that this year has been an absolute rollercoaster of emotions! We wept as we watched Woolworths lead the way as the first of the victims of the credit crunch and we jumped for joy as Barak Obama took over the Presidency. Here at the Launch Pad, however, there was one event that moved us to our very core. One event that really made us stop to think (before leaping up and shouting “eureka!”).
The Royal Mail strikes in October and November had a huge impact on the retail industry at a time when annual sales figures, and indeed the state of the economy at large, were still very much in the balance. Studies1 have since shown that this long running row over pay, jobs and modernisation directly led to a £53 million (or 5%) fall in online sales, damaging consumer confidence in the all important run up to Christmas. Nothing is more hurtful than the thought of happy shoppers finding themselves deprived of their shopping – even writing it is painful!
So we reflected on this, and eventually came to a tough conclusion: this setback for our beloved retail industry was, in a bizarre twist of fate, the catalyst for change that we needed. It was the perfect validation for everything we’d been working so hard on bringing to market. Like a phoenix from the ashes, Shutl would launch and with it usher a new era of e-Commerce! Or
1 IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index
something like that… The Royal Mail was rowing over modernisation. Well, they need row no longer – we’re here!
At Shutl our goal is to bring delivery up to date with the advances made in all other areas of eCommerce. With people able to buy whatever they want in seconds, why should they wait days or even weeks to take receipt of delivery? Why should retailers have to put all their eggs in one basket and tie themselves in to long and costly service contracts with a single supplier? How can they mitigate the risk of disruption to a critical service without making their customers and shareholders suffer? Retail fulfilment is undoubtedly an area that is ripe for change…
So when will you be able to finally test drive Shutl for yourselves? Well, we’re going live with our first customers early in 2010. We can’t disclose dates quite yet, however we can promise you that some of your favourite high street stores will be shutling your goods to your door very soon.
Rest assured that we’ll be observing this Christmas shopping season very closely! Shutl may not be operating a live service, but we’ll be taking notes for next year. We’ll have launched, but we won’t be live – like a ghost of Christmas present.
So there’s the theory. The real question is can Shutl deliver? Fortunately, the answer is very straightforward.
Yes we can.
The events of 2009 have been met with a mixed sense of excitement and trepidation. There can be no doubt that this year has been an absolute rollercoaster of emotions! We wept as we watched Woolworths lead the way as the first of the victims of the credit crunch and we jumped for joy as Barak Obama took over the Presidency. Here at the Launch Pad, however, there was one event that moved us to our very core. One event that really made us stop to think (before leaping up and shouting “eureka!”).
The Royal Mail strikes in October and November had a huge impact on the retail industry at a time when annual sales figures, and indeed the state of the economy at large, were still very much in the balance. Recent studies by IMRG/Capgemini have since shown that this long running row over pay, jobs and modernisation directly led to a £53 million (or 5%) fall in online sales, damaging consumer confidence in the all important run up to Christmas. Nothing is more hurtful than the thought of happy shoppers finding themselves deprived of their shopping – even writing it is painful!
So we reflected on this, and eventually came to a tough conclusion: this setback for our beloved retail industry was, in a bizarre twist of fate, the catalyst for change that we needed. It was the perfect validation for everything we’d been working so hard on bringing to market. Like a phoenix from the ashes, Shutl would launch and with it usher a new era of e-Commerce! Or something like that… The Royal Mail was rowing over modernisation. Well, they need row no longer – we’re here!
At Shutl our goal is to bring delivery up to date with the advances made in all other areas of eCommerce. With people able to buy whatever they want in seconds, why should they wait days or even weeks to take receipt of delivery? Why should retailers have to put all their eggs in one basket and tie themselves in to long and costly service contracts with a single supplier? How can they mitigate the risk of disruption to a critical service without making their customers and shareholders suffer? Retail fulfilment is undoubtedly an area that is ripe for change…
So when will you be able to finally test drive Shutl for yourselves? Well, we’re going live with our first customers early in 2010. We can’t disclose dates quite yet, however we can promise you that some of your favourite high street stores will be shutling your goods to your door very soon.
Rest assured that we’ll be observing this Christmas shopping season very closely! Shutl may not be operating a live service, but we’ll be taking notes for next year. We’ll have launched, but we won’t be live – like a ghost of Christmas present.
So there’s the theory. The real question is can Shutl deliver? Fortunately, the answer is very straightforward.
Yes we can.
Only 2 days to go before Christmas and people are apparently struggling to complete their shopping. As of Monday 21st December, the Google/OTX Consumer Pulse Check survey informs us that the average consumer still had approximately 38% of their shopping left to complete! With Jack Frost nipping at the nation’s toes and most means of public transport thrown into relative chaos, it seems that the pressure is on…
Today is a huge milestone for Shutl as we are finally unveiling our new venture to the world at the LeWeb conference in Paris. The team and I have been building up to this for over a year now and we’re seriously excited to finally be in a position to share our vision with you!
Despite the fact that the UK is still technically in recession, consumer confidence has recently been on the increase. As the housing market stabilises, observers (Shutl included) are cautiously optimistic that this year’s Christmas sales will be an improvement on last year’s dismal results. Kelkoo, the online shopping comparison site, are predicting that retail sales in the six weeks to Christmas will jump £832m YoY to £44.7bn.
18th November: European Tech Tour Web and Mobility Summit, Montreux. 
9th-10th December: LeWeb ‘09, Paris.
A recent piece in 
