Whist the pandemic has been punitive for many businesses (especially those in Leicester which on the brink of opening this coming Saturday have had the door slammed shut again), for others it’s boosted their business and accelerated growth that perhaps would have much longer to achieve.
Scurri are one such business who, since the onset of the lock down restriction, have seen a 55% increase in delivery volumes. This accelerated growth is in line with the current and long-projected boom in the ecommerce sector and, as Scurri derives most of their revenue from business in the UK, is indicative of the accelerated growth of ecommerce specifically in the UK.
Scurri who power millions of parcel deliveries each month for companies, enabling merchants to select the most effective delivery option for each package, have announced a €1.5 million investment to support continued growth. It’s generally accepted that pre-pandemic somewhere in the region of 20% of retail took place online but the accelerated growth due to the majority of retailers forced to shut their doors for three months will see more consumers than ever shopping online and it’s likely that the high street won’t regain 80% of sales.
“We have very ambitious plans for the company in the next 12 months. For the past seven years Scurri has gone from strength to strength, from start-up to full service software solutions provider with a growing list of blue chip and fast growth companies in the sophisticated and fragmented UK ecommerce market. Contrary to the slowed growth in other sectors as a result of the pandemic, eCommerce is booming. The market for Scurri has now greatly increased and is years ahead of where it would have been pre-Covid. We are in a very fortunate position and excited about what the next twelve months will bring.
We are also extremely proud and thankful to our amazing team here at Scurri who, despite the upheaval the crisis has caused, rose to the challenge and helped ensure the company could capitalise on the growth opportunities that came with the recent accelerated growth in the eCommerce sector. We pride ourselves on our status of one of the Best Places Workplaces in Ireland and our team always comes first. We are delighted to be in the opportunity to now grow that team further as we move on to our next phase of growth.”
– Rory O’Connor, CEO and Founder, Scurri
It is likely that increased costs will be coming down the line for online retailers. The government has stated a desire to reimagine deliveries with ideas ranging from ‘interconnected transport and logistics services’ (i.e. forcing carriers to work together), incentivising customers to accept slightly longer delivery times, passing the true cost of delivery and return to the customer, improved customer purchasing decisions and even a mandatory delivery charge to discourage use of delivery services (similar to the charge intended to reduce use of plastic carrier bags).
All this will, especially when combined with different forms of delivery such as drones in rural areas or lockers and collection points in cities, will increase the need for retailers to use an automated streamlined delivery services from the checkout button through the back office and right up to the point of delivery to the consumer.
