PUDOpoint Counters partners with ZigZag Global to provide a convenient last mile solution for North America
ZigZag Global
October 13, 2020
OCTOBER 14, 2020 PRESS RELEASE: PUDO Inc (PUDOpoint Counters) will utilise its network of pick-up and drop-off locations to enable online shoppers across North America to make returns. Some of the world’s biggest retailers rely on ZigZag’s best-in-class solution to deliver a smooth returns experience for their customers who will now be able to select from thousands of convenient PUDOpoint Counters locations.
eCommerce sales are skyrocketing. Carrier services and retailers are quickly trying to scale up to match online demand. New customers bring with them new addresses, new delivery expectations, more deliveries and, of course, more return requests. Whether the customer isn’t at home or at a difficult-to-find address, first attempt deliveries fail up to 35% of the time in North America, according to PUDO. The cost of return deliveries topped out at $363B last year, with some fashion retailers reporting the costs of servicing returns outstripping gross revenue, and many losing a third of their revenue.
Tackling first and last-mile delivery issues continues to be at the forefront of the minds of eCommerce companies, with 78% claiming it is the most inefficient process of the entire supply chain. Likewise, a smooth returns process is now paramount to both a retailer’s bottom line and customer experience. North American retailers are facing crisis-level returns gridlock, knowing that those that fail to deliver a smooth returns experience could lose close to 73% of their consumers forever.
The partnership between ZigZag and PUDOpoint Counters will tackle both headaches. Retailers will benefit from a cost-effective returns process that improves customer satisfaction. Efficiencies in the delivery process will be passed on to their customers in the shape of returns certainty upon ordering, faster refund processing, and efficient parcel returns drop-off at PUDOpoint Counters.
Shoppers from some of the world's most renowned brands make a return by going seamlessly from the retailer’s website to the ZigZag online platform. They will now be able to select which items in their basket they wish to return for either a refund or exchange, before selecting a PUDOpoint Counter for a simple local drop off. All done in 60 seconds. The data analytics powering the ZigZag platform will then ensure the goods arrive back to the retailer in a timely and energy-efficient manner or resold or recycled in local markets.
Buy local. The message has been repeated more as the pandemic has proved the importance of supporting small businesses most heavily impacted. Some consumers are still wary of the safety concerns with entering stores unnecessarily. PUDOpoint Counters can be found across various businesses from small outlet stores to coffee shops across the US and Canada. Offering a returns drop off location incentivises shoppers to get back on the highstreet. With 59% of people looking to consolidate shopping trips, ZigZag’s partnership with PUDOpoint Counters allows retail customers to get the most out of their excursions.
Retail must become more sustainable. The PUDOpoint Counters network helps the industry become more environmentally friendly as it reduces courier traffic and CO2 emissions by 50:1. Rather than winding down long country roads, looking for secluded houses off the main road, journeys are consolidated and delivered to known high-street addresses. By adding PUDOpoint Counters to their extensive carrier network, ZigZag will allow retailers trading in North America to make their returns process far more sustainable and will reduce congestion in major cities.
Lucie Custance, Head of Logistics at ZigZag commented, “We are delighted to welcome PUDOpoint Counters to our carrier network. Pick-up drop-off services are quickly becoming the most popular choice for retailers and consumers alike. They provide a convenient and safe option for customers whilst negating the most challenging aspects of first and last-mile collections and deliveries.”
“I am particularly pleased and proud of our partnership with ZagZag Global,” says PUDO CEO Frank Coccia. “The inspiration for PUDO Inc was based largely on the time I spent in the UK, working in the e-commerce parcel pick-up and drop-off space — a space that was much more developed than it was and still is here in North America. Thanks to visionary partners like ZigZag and our major online retailer and courier partners, the PUDOpoint Counters Network is making a serious economic and environmental dent in e-commerce universe by reducing or eliminating last-mile gridlock”
About ZigZag
ZigZag Global is a software solution to help ecommerce retailers manage returns domestically and globally.
The ZigZag platform connects major retailers to a global network of over 220 warehouses to over 200+ carrier services in over 130 countries. ZigZag's clients include boohoo group, Selfridges, Arcadia group (Topshop etc), Superdry, DHL, GAP, The Hut and many more.
ZigZag delivers best in class technology and service to transform the returns experience globally. ZigZag’s mission is to reduce the cost, waste and friction associated with returns, boost customer loyalty and make retailers more profitable and sustainable.
ZigZag was the winner of the Best eCommerce Technology Innovation and Best Product at eCommerce Expo 2020, Innovation in Delivery and Logistics Award at the eCommerce Awards 2019, won the KPMG Best British Tech Startup 2019 (London round), was a finalist at The Circulars at the World Economic Forum 2019 in Davos, is listed in the Retail Tech Top 50, The StartUps Top 100, Disrupt 100. ZigZag won the 2018 Shop.org Disruption and Innovation Award, 2018 World Post and Parcel Awards for Ecommerce and Innovation, 2018 Postal Pitch in Washington, 2018 Millennial 20:20 Ecommerce Enabler, 2017 ShopTalk Startup award along with a 25,000 Euro prize. It also won the 2017 Sustainability Award in Milan, 2017 Innovation Award at IRX, StartUps 100 Winner 2017. 2016 Global award at the World Retail Congress in Dubai for innovation, Mark of Excellence - Disruptor of the Year 2016 - Supply Chain Awards, Winner at London Technology Week – GetInTheRing. ZigZag is also proud to be a member of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
Please see more info at www.zigzag.global.
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About PUDOpoint
PUDO Inc. (CSE: PDO; OTCQB: PDPTF) is North America’s only carrier-neutral parcel pick-up and drop-off counter Network, conceived to resolve the last-mile parcel-traffic-control gridlock that challenges North America’s $827B retail e-commerce sector, and eliminate over $6B in door-dropped parcel theft.
PUDO’s team of logistics and parcel traffic management experts have created a plug-and-play, pay-as-you-go platform and Network of parcel pick-up and drop-off store front counters known as PUDOpoint Counters, strategically located very near to where people live, work and play.
The PUDO model reduces or eliminates crippling last-mile related expenses for online retailers, marketplaces and carrier/delivery partners, with fulfillment and distribution solutions that include parcel storage and consolidation for click-and-collect deliveries, online returns, and the nearly 35% of e-commerce parcels that are undeliverable on first attempt.
Membership in the PUDOpoint Counters Network program offers consumers ‘parcel receipt certainty,' early/late/weekend pick-up and return convenience, 100% elimination of door-drop parcel theft, and a mobile home-away-from-home address Network that goes wherever they do.
The PUDOpoint Counters Network provides all carriers, retailers, and consumers with badly needed cost controls, choice, and convenience.