Shutl

Shutl is a subsidiary of eBay Inc. which provides delivery services. The company was founded in London in 2008 by Tom Allason, as a company offering a rapid fulfillment service by connecting online retailers with local same-day couriers. The company was bought by eBay in 2013.[1][2]

Shutl
IndustryDelivery
Founded2008
Key people
Tom Allason[lower-roman 1]
ProductsTransportation of goods
ParenteBay (2013-25th Jul 2019)
WebsiteShutl.com

History

Shutl received £500k of venture capital investment in October 2009[3] from investors including Simon Murdoch, Paul Birch, Mark Zaleski, and Big Bang Ventures of Belgium.[1][3] Murdoch, who was previously Vice President of Amazon in Europe, joined the company's board as non-executive chairman.[4] Shutl's official launch took place on 9 December 2009 at LeWeb, a European Internet conference.[4][5]

The company acted as an aggregator for same-day delivery services over short distances, connecting retailers with couriers who made deliveries within a ten-mile radius of the retailer's premises.[4]

In the first months of operations, Shutl was available in London only. Its first delivery transaction took place in March 2010.[6] The company's initial growth rate was about 50 percent month-on-month.[6] Company executives planned for growth within the UK and then internationally.[7] One of the first major retailers to adopt the service in London was Argos, the UK's largest multichannel retailer.[8]

The United States Patent and Trademark Office granted Shutl a trademark in August 2011.[9] During the summer, the service expanded into Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leeds and Manchester,[10] with service to Aberdeen, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff and Liverpool following shortly thereafter.[10] By Christmas that year, Shutl extended its coverage to serve 50% of the UK's online shoppers.[11] By mid-2012, Shutl operated in more than 50 UK cities and towns, serving 70% of UK shoppers.[12][10]

In 2012, Shutl executives began planning for a North American launch.[12][13] The company received a $2 million investment from the UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund[12][6] and the French post office, La Poste, made a similar investment through its wholly owned subsidiary, Geopost.[6] Total funding was $8.6 million[10] and the launch took place in February 2013.[13][14]

In 2012, Shutl offered Jamaican sprinter and Olympic champion Usain Bolt a one-percent stake in the company in exchange for his endorsement.[15] The company won the 2012 DHL Online Fulfillment Initiative of the Year award,[16] and Startups.co.uk ranked Shutl at number 1 in their top 100 startups of the year.[17] In November 2012, the company won the National Business Awards Start-up Business of the Year award.[18]

In January 2013, Shutl won Best Transport, Travel or Environmental Startup at The Europas.[19]

In June 2019, eBay UK announced they would be changing their delivery service provider from Shutl to Packlink.[20]

Purchase by Ebay

On 23 October 2013, it was announced by eBay that it had bought the firm and was aiming for one-hour delivery in the UK.[21]

As of 2018, Shutl Limited continued to be registered in London, as a wholly owned subsidiary of eBay International AG.[22]

eBay turned off integration with Shutl in July 2019.[23]

References

  1. Son of the MP and espionage writer, as 'Nigel West', Rupert Allason
  1. Moules, Jonathan (December 9, 2009). "Shutl offers online shoppers delivery in 90 minutes". Financial Times.
  2. 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.
  3. Butcher, Mike (9 October 2009). "Stealth-mode Shutl says it now has money". TechCrunch. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  4. Graham Charlton (9 December 2009). "Q&A: Tom Allason on e-commerce delivery startup Shutl". Econsultancy. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  5. "Amazon UK business founder backs Shutl online delivery service". ComputerWeekly. 9 December 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  6. Robinson, Duncan (26 August 2012). "Courier service Shutl shifts up a gear". Financial Times.
  7. 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.
  8. James Hurley (4 August 2010). "Shutl to power 90-minute delivery service for Argos". The Telegraph. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  9. "USPTO Issues Trademark: Shutl" (Aug. 9, 2011). US Fed News Service.
  10. "Shutl". CrunchBase. 11 October 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  11. Barrett, Clear (Oct. 3, 2011). “Shutl expands to capture Christmas orders”. Financial Times.
  12. Mike Butcher (27 August 2012). "Shutl Preps US Launch For Same Day Delivery After $2M Round Led By UPS". TechCrunch. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  13. Robinson, Duncan (Aug. 27, 2012). "Shutl eyes US launch from 'Silicon Roundabout'". Financial Times.
  14. Wohlson, Marcus. "Same-Day Delivery Darling Shutl Takes on Amazon's Ground Game". Wired. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  15. Jackson, Steven (Aug. 23, 2012). “Shutl chases Usain Bolt”. The Weekly Gleaner.
  16. "Winners 2012". RetailWeek. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  17. "1.Shutl". startups. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  18. "Winners of the National Business Awards 2012". National Business Awards UK. Archived from the original on 5 March 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  19. "People's Choice". The Europas. Archived from the original on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  20. http://mail.ebay.co.uk/r/mail/51897II80b49aII1955e71d5aaII5
  21. "Ebay to buy Shutl as it aims for one-hour delivery in UK - BBC News". BBC News. Retrieved 2015-11-09.
  22. "Shutl Limited: Annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2016". Companies House. 23 August 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  23. "Packlink to replace eBay delivery powered by Shutl". Tamebay. 2019-06-27. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
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