In one sentence, what is your product/service?

Parcelly offers a click-and-collect solution that allows online shoppers to collect their purchases however, whenever and wherever is most convenient for them.

What problems does it solve?

We are on a mission to tackle the last mile delivery problem. No more missed parcel deliveries or queuing at the post office on a Saturday morning. 

At the same time we help increase footfall to local retailers and actively work on reducing the environmental impacts of online shopping.

Is this a crowded market?

The market is showing unprecedented growth. Research suggests online sales in the UK are expected to increase 16.2% this year, and the market value of online shopping will go up to £60bn by the end of 2016. 

Click-and-collect is one of the fastest growing categories within the wider logistics sector. Many online retailers and logistic companies try their best to offer a solution that makes it more convenient for consumers to collect their purchases. 

Our proposition is the only one that enables you to pick up your parcel deliveries at a location of your choice however, no matter where you buy online or how it gets delivered.

What are your goals?

We are currently operating a network of more than 100 Parcelly locations and we will keep expanding our community in areas most convenient for consumers. 

We will be launching the Android version of our app by the end of this month, something we are very excited about. 

In terms of the future we aim to continue our journey as the most convenient, social and environmentally engaging click-and-collect solution in the UK.

What are the biggest challenges you face?

Our business model has its own chicken and egg situation to deal with: our system can only provide more flexibility for consumers if we have enough parcel collection points in place. 

Local shop and business owners need to trust the Parcelly brand enough to join our network. 

We feel very lucky and grateful to have recruited a solid number of entrepreneurial and highly supportive business partners so far to help us build our brand and ensure the best possible customer service.

How will you make money?

The app itself is free to download. We charge a small fee for every parcel handled by us, with prices starting at £1.99 per single parcel collection. 

For Parcelly users who receive parcels on a more regular basis, we have introduced a subscription model. This allows you to collect an unlimited number of parcels from your selected Parcelly location for just £7.99 a month.

Who is in your team?

At the moment we are a team of 11, most of us working in development and sales. In the next two months we aim to recruit three new team members who will be focusing on our PR and marketing.

Where would you like to be in one, three and five years’ time?

Launched only in December 2014, we are already operating a network of over 100 locations (mainly in Central London, Kent, Oxford and Cambridge) and we are adding more places on a daily basis. 

In the nearest future, we are planning to expand our services across the UK, with the potential to operate across Europe within the next five years. 

Most importantly though, our aim is to keep improving our service by making it easier to use and by following up on our customers’ feedback. 

We also want to partner with more online retailers and carriers in order to combine their delivery service with our solution.

Other than your own, what are your favourite websites/apps/tools?

We use numerous websites, apps and tools. Entrepreneur.com, the Econsultancy blog, Startups.co.uk and Startup Grind are all great for advice.

For startup-related news we follow Real Business, SME Insider and Mashable, among others.

In the tool department we love Trello for sharing tasks within the team and Xero to make our accounting easier.