Park N Parcel to deliver Hong Kong, Japan, and Thailand expansion after seed funding

The Park N Parcel team / Photo credit: Park N Parcel

You’ve bought something online, but inevitably, you’re at work or out enjoying yourself when the postman knocks. The package returns to the distribution center, and you have to go through the hassle of rescheduling a delivery time. Which you might miss. Again.

It’s a prime example of something the British refer to as “Sod’s law.”

Park N Parcel, a Singaporean last-mile logistics startup, thinks it has the solution to this problem. It has just announced it received US$648,000 in seed funding from TRi5 Ventures and a group of angel investors last month.

See: Singaporean entrepreneurs tackle last-mile delivery with neighborhood spirit

Incubated by the National University of Singapore’s NUS Enterprise and launched in January 2017, Park N Parcel provides a self-collection system for online shoppers. It allows them to have their purchases delivered somewhere other than their home, such as a neighbor’s house or a local store, to pick up at a time convenient for them.

Shoppers can search Park N Parcel’s website to pinpoint available “parkers” – the close to 1,500 vetted proxies who can receive their deliveries. Once matched, they can then enter the relevant parker’s details as the shipping address for their package when ordering online. The shopper gets a notification from Park N Parcel when their package arrives so that they can collect it.

The shopper pays around US$1.80 to use the service, of which parkers get a cut. The startup said in a statement today that it has seen 30 percent month-on-month growth in its client base over the past year.

Park N Parcel also said it plans to use the seed capital to expand to Hong Kong, Japan, and Thailand by the final quarter of 2018. The funding will also help strengthen its leadership team through new hires, it added.

Citing data from research consultancy Emarketer, Park N Parcel said that Asia Pacific’s ecommerce transactions are forecast to hit US$535 billion in value by 2022, with 18 percent of that figure accounted for by the three markets the company plans to enter.

Park N Parcel underlined extremely high internet penetration in Hong Kong’s population, a lack of affordable delivery options in Japan due to high driver wages, and the rapid growth of internet access, disposable income, and online shopping in Thailand as among the factors in its decision to target those territories.

Beyond its self-collection platform, the startup is also moving into actual deliveries with its Park N Deliver service, which allows diehard shoppers to have their purchases from one mall delivered to a pick-up point in another.

Lock and load

Park N Parcel is one of several Singaporean startups and industry incumbents experimenting with self-collect options. Last-mile delivery firm Ninja Van offers its own Ninja Collect service, which delivers packages either to partner businesses or drop-off lockers. SingPost has its own locker system called POPStations, while Blu also provides smart lockers across the island where shoppers can collect their online purchases.

Smart lockers and secure drop-off boxes generally cost providers far less than last-mile solutions that require vehicles, drivers, and distribution facilities to complete delivery, according to research consultancy EcommerceIQ. However, locker systems still require a substantial upfront investment, with units costing anywhere between US$5,000 and US$35,000 to buy and install. They also need to be situated in places like shopping malls, train stations, and other city-center areas, which typically translates into high real estate costs.