Japanese delivery service Yamato has partnered with UK-based international e-commerce solutions provider Doddle to create a proprietary nationwide pick-up/drop-off (PUDO) network, underpinned by Doddle’s sector leading software platform.
The deal comes after Doddle declared a long-term partnership with Australia Post to power its Collect & Return network, and the growth of Doddle’s business in the USA as an authorized solutions partner to USPS.
The partnership represents one of the first times Yamato – which has a 42% share of the parcel market in Japan – has worked with an international software business to support its transformation plan ‘Yamato NEXT 100’. The plan represents a commitment by the carrier to co-develop sustainably focused future delivery solutions that are both efficient and customer-centric.
Japan is the world’s fourth-largest e-commerce market and one of the fastest-growing e-commerce markets globally, with 75% of the population regular e-commerce users. Yamato currently ships 1.8 billion parcels annually, but with e-commerce demand in the country continuing to grow, the requirement to provide more delivery options to consumers has become a strategic priority for the company.
Thanks to the features found in Doddle’s platform, customers will be able to choose to collect their parcels from some of the 240,000 Yamato partner shop network facilities nationwide, with new partner locations expected to include some of the biggest retailers in Japan.
Yutaka Nagao, president, Yamato Holdings, said, “Yamato Group has been seeking proactive partnerships with startups in Japan and abroad possessing innovative technologies and business models for transforming logistics and supply chains. The collaboration with Doddle, a UK startup, is one of the most important such moves, and we are elated to announce this initiative with the company.
“We believe that utilization of Doddle’s cutting-edge digital technology in the last-mile business of e-commerce will enable us to offer a completely new collection experience to Japanese customers in the future. We will aim to establish an e-commerce ecosystem that provides the best value to all who engage in e-commerce by accelerating digital transformation (DX) through further cooperation between the two companies going forward.”
Doddle’s end-to-end tech solution will enable customers to track the progress of their orders at every point of the journey from basket to collection and will enable Yamato Holding’s 33 million Kuroneko privilege club members to carry out inflight diverts from home to a collection point, or from one collection point to another, to offer the ultimate in customer convenience.
Tim Robinson, CEO of Doddle, commented, “The global Covid-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented boom in the already rapidly growing international e-commerce market. Click and collect is the fastest growing delivery option globally because it provides the natural solution – enabling companies to address inevitable capacity issues while delivering superior sustainability and a flexible customer experience.
“Sector leaders like Yamato Holdings are turning to Doddle because we have demonstrated in multiple thriving and challenging e-commerce markets just how easy it can be to create and manage an unrivalled nationwide PUDO network using our flexible and accessible technology. We are excited to be working with Yamato – a carrier renowned worldwide for its customer experience – to demonstrate that customer experience and sustainability can be championed together.”