An Post’s AddressPal service has registered more than 100,000 new users in need of a UK delivery address for shopping on UK websites which won’t ship to the Republic of Ireland, or who charge heavy fees for doing so.
After just seven months in existence and its first Cyber Monday frenzy, AddressPal is already delivering more than 20,000 items a week from its UK hub to “click and collect” points in Post Offices throughout the country – and An Post expects this increase even further over the coming weeks and New Year sales season.
AddressPal from An Post allows customers to shop on UK websites who don’t ship to Ireland or to avail of cheaper shipping fees into Ireland. With simple, free, online registration, AddressPal allows An Post customers to make a purchase and have the item shipped to a Post Office of their choice in Ireland, for as little as €3.50.
“We’re the new market leader in this segment of the business”, says An Post director of sales and marketing, Liam Sheehan. “From a standing start, we hit the ground running in April, saw steady growth all summer but as soon as the UK voted for BREXIT and Sterling took a dive, AddressPal simply took off. We now have 100,000 registered customers – 50,000 in the last 12 weeks alone – and there’s no sign of it slowing. Thankfully, capacity isn’t an issue for us, given our infrastructure,” he says.
“Take-up and usage is beyond anything we could have forecast. Irish consumers are savy and money conscious and this is a totally customer-led product – they told us to keep it simple, keep it affordable and convenient. The post office “click & Collect element is a big hit – customers can choose to collect their shopping near home, near work, near the crèche – it’s all about reliability and saving precious time.”
“Our 2017 plans include the launch of AddressPal from the United States and a home delivery option for all AddressPal shopping. The Irish love affair with online shopping is just starting. We’re also working with Irish SMEs and start-ups, helping them to maximise their online presence with the right outward shipping and delivery offerings,” says Sheehan.
