CitySprint have signed a new three-year contract with British home improvement retailer Wickes. The new deal builds on CitySprint and Wickes’ existing partnership that began in 2016 and will continue to see CitySprint fulfilling home deliveries for Wickes’ online customers.
With over 230 Wickes stores across the country, CitySprint will continue to provide local delivery services from stock held across Wickes’ network of local stores. The ‘smart fulfilment’ allows the fast and convenient delivery of Wickes’ trade quality DIY and home improvement products to customers and tradespeople all over the UK.
We’re looking forward to further building our relationship with CitySprint over the next three years, after they’ve continued to provide high-quality delivery support for our customers. Their dedication to meeting the needs of our customers and ability to adapt quickly have helped keep us moving throughout the challenges of the past few years – and will continue to help moving forwards.
– Lisa Goward, Head of Delivery Customer Experience, Wickes
Last year, the Wickes eBay store launched with 4,000 lines – one of a number of channels through which the retailer aims to improve the accessibility of its range to more home improvement customers. Since launch they’ve sold over 33k items and use the same carrier partnership for deliveries.
What makes Wickes stand out as a retailer is that they use local stores as fulfilment hubs, admittedly an easier operation than for many high street retailers, but this ultra local fulfilment is what enables them to offer next day or named day delivery at super competitive prices with their partner CitySprint.
Comparing Wickes to other DIY retailers, their competition are charging £20 delivery for bulk items with a minimum £100 order value, and with no promise as to the delivery date. You’re effectively buying blind and paying substantially more than the £7 delivery charge at Wickes with CitySprint (which drops to £4 or £2.50 for smaller lighter products or even free for larger orders).
Having mirrored their website experience with their eBay Store, when qualifying for free delivery, the only differences between buying directly on the Wickes website and buying from the Wickes eBay Store were not being able to specify a delivery date (eBay promised within 3 days).
We’re thrilled to be going into our seventh year working with Wickes, having provided our delivery services to thousands of Wickes’ customers, helping to fulfil their DIY and home improvement needs. Recent years have seen a significant increase in home delivery and successfully navigating this growth, especially during the turbulent period during 2020 & 2021 Covid lockdowns, is testimony to the strength of the partnership between CitySprint and Wickes’ teams.
Continuous improvement of customer satisfaction is a shared focus and we are all extremely proud that ratings have, and continue, to gain incrementality. We’re excited to continue the partnership between CitySprint and Wickes to ensure their customers can get the products they need, with delivery options that are most convenient to them.
– Darren Taylor, Business Solutions Director, CitySprint
Sustainability of CitySprint Wickes deliveries
From a sustainability standpoint, most people don’t have the facilities to collect large items (e.g. fence panels and posts) due to the size and weight of the items. If we accept that a delivery has to take place, bulk deliveries to local stores with a multiple drop final mile courier such as CitySprint makes for an admirably low carbon footprint.
This will become even gentler to the environment with the announcement this month from CitySprint that they are expanding their electric vehicle (EV) fleet with the acquisition of 40 new electric vans from vehicle manufacturer Maxus.
The new electric vans, which have an impressive range of up to 213 miles/ 344 kilometres on a full battery, will add to CitySprint’s expanding green fleet to offer customers a range of sustainable delivery options.
They have been strategically deployed across the UK with the aim of helping to reduce pollution levels in key cities in which CitySprint operates, including London, Leeds, Bristol, Manchester, Southampton and Birmingham.
With the expansion of Low and Ultra-Low Emission Zones in cities across the UK, the electric vans will be a valuable addition to CitySprint’s existing fleet and will play a part in ensuring the business continues to offer its customers a seamless and premium sustainable experience year-round.
At CitySprint, we have always acknowledged that, due to the nature of our work, we — and the logistics industry as a whole — have an important role to play in lowering emissions. For us, doing the right thing for the environment, the communities in which we work and for the people who live, work and play in these communities is vital. That’s why we are constantly looking for ways to further strengthen our existing green fleet across the UK.
“Our new electric vans will help us to reduce our environmental impact in the cities in which we operate and is a step in the right direction for us to achieve our aim of having a fleet of over 200 green vehicles across the major cities we work in the next 2 years.
– Mark Footman, Chief Operating Officer, CitySprint
