It's all in the delivery

Innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit at the core PenguinPickUp’s success.

By Mario Toneguzzi

PenguinPickUp, a growing network of convenient “one-stop pick-up” for all e-commerce purchases, including groceries, as well as outbound courier services from its courier company partners, continues to expand its presence across the country.

Brad Baker, Interim President of the company, says the organization is constantly evolving to meet the needs of its customers and partners, and to ensure it remains on the cutting edge so that it can continue to fulfill its purpose of being Canada’s most trusted shipping address.

“We are hyper-focused on being the leaders in out of home delivery and drop-off points, as well as a leader in sustainable home delivery,” he says. “With those goals in mind, we are meeting the customers where they are, with solutions that make the last mile both more environmentally- and economically-friendly. Some examples of the things we’re doing to support this include automated parcel lockers, autonomous stores, mobile pick-up solutions, e-cargo bike home delivery and expansion into new locations. Together, they are solutions that allow us to serve even more Canadians. Keep an eye out as we continue our rapid growth and provide even more solutions for Canadian retailers and their customers.”

Addressing increasing customer expectations

Baker says retailers face increasing pressures to effectively balance the customer’s changing expectations while controlling or reducing operational costs. Mid- and last-mile delivery solutions have historically been complex and expensive for the retailer to solve – this is where micro-fulfillment hubs, and sustainable home and out of home delivery options, come in.

“Customers today have high expectations related to the e-commerce experience and want retailers to meet them ‘where they are’, namely the places where they work and live,” he asserts. “That’s putting pressure on retailers who must connect with their customers, making both deliveries and returns accessible in their neighbourhoods, on their commutes or at their doorstep. Meeting those expectations, especially as it relates to the last-mile - which accounts for 50 per cent of delivery cost - can be incredibly expensive, and environmentally unfriendly. We must find solutions whereby retailers can meet the rising customer expectations, whilst being more economically and environmentally sustainable.”

That’s where PenguinPickUp comes in by offering affordable mid- and last-mile delivery solutions that are beneficial to both the retailer and their customers.

Evolution and growth

The company, which began in 2014, has 36 locations across the country in the Greater Montreal Area, the Greater Toronto Area and the Greater Vancouver Area. Its ambition is to open 6 to 8 more locations this year with rapid continued growth over the next 5 years - 15 plus locations annually. It is also growing its transport services.

“PenguinPickUp’s network of stores across Canada, along with our mid- and last-mile transport services, helps retailers solve the equation of meeting customers’ expectations whilst reducing operating costs and being more environmentally-friendly in several ways,” says Baker. “Our locations provide pickup and drop-off points in Canada’s major urban centres, within walking distance to millions of Canadians. In this model, retailers are more accessible to their customer-base by being closer to where they live and work. By enabling the customer to pick up and return goods at PenguinPickUp locations, the retailer can offer greater convenience, saving them time and money - versus the cost of a home delivery - and giving them security and peace-of-mind that their parcel is well-cared-for, with no worry of porch pirates or their package being lost amongst overflowing condo lobbies.”

In addition, Baker says that PenguinPickUp places significant emphasis on going above and beyond in order to represent itself as an extension of its retail partners that it’s providing services to and on behalf of.

“We work closely with our retail partners for full integration, to enable a seamless customer journey from the transaction on-site to the handover, and we even bespoke the customer interaction and experience at our stores, so it’s perfectly aligned with your brand.”

He says one of the company’s core values is being innovative. And, by its entrepreneurial nature, he says that it’s also always striving to improve its operations. Over nine years in business, PenguinPickUp has consistently evolved to meet the challenges and demands of the times.

Raising the customer experience bar

Its store formats have evolved from serving customers from shipping containers located on SmartCentre’s properties to a network of standalone stores located within city centres. Locations are found within retail stores and on university campuses. And the company will soon introduce self-serve lockers along transit routes. Today’s stores are fit for purpose, with right-sized back of-house space outfitted with high-capacity modern shelving and inventory management systems.

“Our technology is continuously evolving to ensure we raise the bar on customer experience,” he explains.”We recently introduced a learning management system which trains our associates to provide a consistent customer experience across all locations. We’ve developed training modules specific to retailers to ensure alignment with their operations. Our customer app makes package tracking and updates a breeze. And our enhanced backend system allows for easy API integration and ease of working for our associates.”

Baker goes on to add that the company is solution-oriented and agile, moving and pivoting quickly to meet the demands of customers and partners. That might mean identifying and quickly opening new locations where customer demand is high, or developing a new business vertical such as PenguinPickUp2U, its transport and delivery service, which provides mid-mile solutions from a retailer’s store or DC to a PenguinPickUp location.

“We are a full-service solution,” he boasts. “A retailer can seamlessly integrate with us and offer their customer the option to choose PenguinPickUp as their collection point during check out. Our drivers will collect those goods from the retailer’s DC or a store and can move them same or next day to the PenguinPickUp location which the customer chose – where they’ll be served by a friendly, engaged associate who will collect the package quickly using our warehouse management system. However, although we want to ensure that we’re taking care of delivery and returns for our retail partners with first rate service and solutions, we also want to make it more economical for them, too.”

Saving costs

Last-mile logistics accounts for more than 50 per cent of delivery costs, Baker explains. Consolidating shipments represents considerable savings to retailers as they move from potentially hundreds of stops to just one. This benefit of consolidation always works on the reverse flow when the customer can drop off their returns at a PenguinPickUp location.

“Delivering to a PenguinPickUp ensures delivery success on the first attempt, versus a home delivery which often experiences one to two failed deliveries, with each one adding to the already high last-mile cost. Consolidating goods, straight from a DC to a PenguinPickUp location, gives a retailer real clarity and control over inventory end-to-end, thus reducing loss. And, consolidating shipments offers significant environmental benefits by removing trucks from the roads, thereby reducing both emissions and congestion in the places we live, work, and play. PenguinPickUp locations can also serve as urban micro-fulfillment hubs allowing retailers to deliver the last-mile from PenguinPickUp to a customer’s home in a zero-emission, right-sized vehicle, or an electric cargo bike.”