Shutl

Shutl
Industry Delivery
Founded 2008
Headquarters London, United Kingdom
Key people
 Tom Allason
Products Transportation of goods
Website Shutl.com

Shutl is a London-based technology start-up offering a rapid fulfillment service by connecting online retailers with local same-day couriers.[1] The startup company is best known for offering delivery of online shopping orders in 90 minutes or less.[2][3][4] The company was founded in 2008 by tech entrepreneur Tom Allason.[3][5][6]

Shutl’s official launch took place on 9 December 2009 at LeWeb, a European Internet conference.[1][5][7][8] Shutl has been featured on several international technology media outlets, including Mashable, Wired, and CNBC.[9][10][11][12]

History

Shutl received £500k of venture capital investment in October 2009.[6][13][14] Investors included Dr. Simon Murdoch, Paul Birch, Mark Zaleski, and Big Bang Ventures of Belgium.[2][13][14] Murdoch, who was previously Vice President of Amazon in Europe, joined the company’s board as non-executive chairman.[6][13] Prior to launch in December 2009, founder Tom Allason was secretive about what precisely Shutl would be.[1][13]

In the first several months of operations, Shutl was available in London only.[15][16] Shutl completed its first delivery transaction in March 2010.[17] The company’s initial growth rate was about 50 percent month on month.[17] Company executives mapped out a plan early for growth within the UK and then internationally.[16][18] One of the first major retailers to adopt the service in London was Argos, the UK’s largest multichannel retailer.[19][20][21]

The United States Patent and Trademark Office granted Shutl an official trademark in August 2011.[22] During the summer, the service expanded into Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leeds and Manchester,[5] with service to Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff and Liverpool following shortly thereafter.[5] By Christmas that same year, Shutl extended its coverage to serve 50% of the UK’s online shoppers.[23] By mid-2012, Shutl operated in more than 50 UK cities and towns, serving 70% of UK shoppers.[3][5]

In 2012, Shutl executives began planning for a North American launch.[3][24] The company received a $2 million investment from the UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund.[3][17] The French post office, La Poste, has made a similar investment through its wholly owned subsidiary, Geopost.[17] The company has raised a total of $7.9 million to date.[5] Shutl was launched in February 2013.[24]

Service

Shutl connects online shoppers, street-level retailers and independent package couriers to offer same-day delivery of purchases.[1][2] The system functions in urban areas where retailers and shoppers are within ten miles of each other.[1][25] Rather than a being separate web destination, Shutl is offered as a delivery option within the retailer’s online shopping cart.[1][26] Shutl uses an algorithm to allocate each delivery to the optimal courier for that job.[1][7]

With the aid of GPS, customers can track the progress of their order from the store to their home in real time.[26] The company believes that through lean operations and smart software, the cost of same-day delivery can be brought down to a comparable price to traditional fulfillment solutions.[27]

Awards and recognition

2010

Growing Business named Shutl founder Tom Allason as one of the “Young Guns 2007.”[28] In 2010, Allason was included in Real Business’s 30:30 Club, a list of promising young entrepreneurs.[29]

Startups UK named Shutl the Angel/VC Backed Business of the Year in 2010.[30]

Shell LiveWIRE UK named Shutl founder Tom Allason a Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year Regional Award Winner in 2010.[31]

2011

Shutl received several awards in 2011. Econsultancy named the company a winner in the category of Innovation in E-commerce.[32] Shutl was Technology Breakthrough Business of the year, according to The Guardian.[33] The UK IT Industry Awards awarded Shutl with the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award.[34] The company received a Bully Award from White Bull.[35] Also in 2011, Shutl won the BT Retail Week Technology Award for supply chain excellence as well as the Retail Systems award for supply chain solution of the year.[36][37]

2012

In 2012, Shutl offered Jamaican sprinter and Olympic champion, Usain Bolt a one-percent stake in the company in exchange for his endorsement.[38] The company also won the 2012 DHL Online Fulfillment Initiative of the Year award,[39] and Startups.co.uk ranked Shutl at number 1 in their top 100 startups of the year.[40]

In November 2012, the company won the National Business Awards Start-up Business of the Year award.[41]

2013

In January, Shutl won Best Transport, Travel or Environmental Startup at The Europas.[42]

Shutl bought out by Ebay

On 23 October 2013, it was announced by Ebay that it had bought the firm and are aiming for one-hour delivery in the UK.[43]

Retail partners

The following retailers have incorporated Shutl as one of their delivery options at checkout:[3][15][44][45]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Graham Charlton (9 December 2009). "Q&A: Tom Allason on e-commerce delivery startup Shutl". Econsultancy. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 Moules, Jonathan (December 9, 2009). “Shutl offers onlineshoppers delivery in 90 minutes”. Financial Times.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mike Butcher (27 August 2012). "Shutl Preps US Launch For Same Day Delivery After $2M Round Led By UPS". TechCrunch. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  4. ↑ Jamie Riddell (11 December 2009). "90 minute delivery from your favorite online stores with Shutl". The Next Web, UK (part of the TNW family). Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Shutl". CrunchBase. 11 October 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 "Allason prepares Shutl for launch with £0.5m". Crimson Business Ltd. 26 October 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  7. 1 2 Patrick Smith (9 December 2009). "eCommerce Retail Delivery Service Shutl Launches". paidContent. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  8. ↑ "Amazon UK business founder backs Shutl online delivery service". ComputerWeekly. 9 December 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  9. ↑ Indvik, Lauren. "Shutl Pledges to Help Retailers Take on Amazon With Same-Day Delivery". Mashable. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  10. ↑ Wohlson, Marcus. "Same-Day Delivery Darling Shutl Takes on Amazon’s Ground Game". Wired. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  11. ↑ Demery, Paul. "Shutl will roll out same-day delivery in 20 North American cities". Internet Retailer. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  12. ↑ "Episode 4: Shutl". CNBC. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Patrick Smith (20 October 2012). "Secretive e-Commerce Site Shutl.co.uk Gets £500k Funding". paidContent. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  14. 1 2 Mike Butcher (9 October 2012). "Stealth-mode Shutl says it now has money". TechCrunch. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  15. 1 2 Richard Wand (13 December 2009). "Shutl:Redefining eCommerce". Keep the noise down. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  16. 1 2 "Tom Allason-Shutl: Revolutionising e-Commerce". Tiburon TV. 29 January 2010. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  17. 1 2 3 4 Robinson, Duncan (Aug. 26, 2012). “Courier service Shutl shifts up a gear”. Financial Times.
  18. ↑ Hermione Way (25 March 2010). "Think It All Happens In Silicon Valley? You’re Wrong! Part 6:Shutl". The Next Web, UK (part of the TNW family). Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  19. ↑ chloe (4 August 2010). "Argos trials a new kind of multichannel delivery". InternetRetailing. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  20. ↑ James Hurley (4 August 2010). "Shutl to power 90-minute delivery service for Argos". The Telegraph. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  21. ↑ Jason Hesse (9 August 2010). "Tom Allason’s Shutl seals Argos delivery deal". realbusiness. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  22. ↑ “USPTO Issues Trademark: Shutl” (Aug. 9, 2011). US Fed News Service.
  23. ↑ Barrett, Clear (Oct. 3, 2011). “Shutl expands to capture Christmas orders”. Financial Times.
  24. 1 2 Robinson, Duncan (Aug. 27, 2012). “Shutl eyes US launch from 'Silicon Roundabout'”. Financial Times.
  25. ↑ sarah (11 December 2009). "Shutl enables retailers to offer same day, direct from store deliveries". InternetRetailing. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  26. 1 2 Basheera Khan (9 December 2009). "LeWeb:Shutl launches near-instant gratification for online shoppers". TechCrunch. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  27. ↑ "Shutl’s same-day deliveries ‘could galvanise online market’". fulfilment & elogistics. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  28. ↑ Stephanie Weistead. "Young Guns 2007". Growing Business. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  29. ↑ Jason Hesse (13 April 2010). "Real Business’s 30:30 Vision". realbusiness. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  30. ↑ "Winner’s Archive 2010". startups. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  31. ↑ http://www.shell-livewire.org/alumni/young-entrepreneur-of-the-year-finalists/tom-allason/
  32. ↑ "Econsultancy announces 2010 Innovation Awards Winners". Econsultancy. 17 January 2011. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  33. ↑ guardian.co.uk (25 March 2011). "MediaGuardian Innovation Awards: the winners". the guardian. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  34. ↑ "Winners 2011". UK Industry Awards. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  35. ↑ "The 2011 Bully Award Winners". White Bull. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  36. ↑ "Winners". RetailWeek. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  37. ↑ "Hall of Fame". Retail Systems. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  38. ↑ Jackson, Steven (Aug. 23, 2012). “Shutl chases Usain Bolt”. The Weekly Gleaner.
  39. ↑ "Winners 2012". RetailWeek. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  40. ↑ "1.Shutl". startups. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  41. ↑ "Winners of the National Business Awards 2012". National Business Awards UK. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  42. ↑ "People's Choice". The Europas. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  43. ↑ "Ebay to buy Shutl as it aims for one-hour delivery in UK - BBC News". BBC News. Retrieved 2015-11-09.
  44. ↑ Ciara Byrne (29 April 2010). "UK Startup Shutl Links Couriers to Online Shopping for faster delivery". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  45. ↑ Matt Brian (4 May 2010). "Shutl offers near instant delivery of online & in-store purchases". The Next Web, Apps (part of TNW family). Retrieved 12 October 2012.
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