Explained: How cutting-edge technology is what sets the company apart from its competitors. It’s the driving force behind reinventing courier services for the better.
Key Takeaway: Seb revealed how the pandemic-induced changing face of retail is what kick-started his modern approach to delivery and what will continue to transform the way courier services operate in the long term.
In SO2EO2, Tim spoke to Seb Robert, former CEO and Founder of Gophr. Seb provided a deeper look into the role of delivery services and how fundamental they are to the success of the eCommerce industry.
Our guest shared some amazing insights into the making of Gophr and how it materialised, from an exciting concept to operating for some of the most well-known retailers and household names.
How Courier Services Evolved Under Pandemic Demand
The start of the Covid-19 pandemic introduced unprecedented restrictions on human contact. For worried shoppers everywhere, the introduction of global lockdowns meant that getting their goods delivered was the most favourable option.
For courier services like Gophr, new shopping habits meant some companies entered a period of unexpected growth. For Seb, that amounted to achieving five years of predicted business development in just one year.
By utilising cutting-edge technology, Gophr was able to provide quick, convenient, and reliable delivery across London and the UK for all kinds of businesses, ranging from household name retailers to local independent restaurants.
During the first two weeks of the pandemic, Gophr was thriving – distributing desks and office equipment around the city for an influx of remote workers. However, once these tasks were completed, Seb explained that the London SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) space was “completely decimated.”
From there, the company embraced its ability to be flexible – something that Seb advises all delivery services to do. As Gophr was built to “serve as any type of industry, across any sector, across any vehicle type”, it was able to move into serving enterprise-style businesses, providing them with a delivery solution to suit the unprecedented market they were operating in.
As footfall was absent from brick-and-mortar stores, Gophr maneuvered its services to support a range of high-street retailers and independent shops, allowing it to expand from London into the rest of the UK.
How Delivery Services Slot into New High Street Shopping
There has been an obvious shift in shopper behaviour, even pre-pandemic. Consumers have been consciously changing their shopping habits by opting to browse in and buy from more experience-focused retail environments. As a result, traffic to larger stores and shopping centres has seen a rapid decline.
In 2020, numerous lockdowns and contact restrictions reduced footfall to brick-and-mortar stores even further. However, as restrictions start to ease, the focus has shifted towards rebuilding the retail sector to what it once was, and in SO2EO2 of the FODcast, Seb explained how delivery services will slot into the new approach to high-street shopping.
His predictions for the successful future of retail include declining commercial rent, experimental approaches to store layouts and shopping experiences, and most importantly, a wider introduction of store-to-home delivery options.
To effectively deliver from more experimental stores, he says that moving away from current click-and-collect methods could be the answer. “For me, that means being able to deliver store-to-home for anyone across the board and organising them in a way that we can do as many drops from one pickup as possible going in the same direction to try and keep costs down,” Seb told us.
To learn more about how retail has changed and how delivery services are continuing to adapt, listen to the full episode.
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