Click and Collect delivery startup Doddle will be closing down 17 of its 24 stand-alone High Street stores, reportedly laying off 100 staff members in the process, and will be refocusing its business model on third party partnerships.

In a statement, the delivery firm said: “The Click and Collect market continues to grow rapidly, and as consumer preferences evolve, our business model is evolving too. We now have 51 locations with recognised brands including Morrisons, Cancer Research UK and other retail partners which have proven popular with customers.

“As a result of their success, we plan to open up to 500 of these locations by Christmas. We are in discussions with a number of other major retailers and plan to have 1,000 locations in the next two years. This expanded network will be complemented by six Doddle stores, and will see the closure of the remaining stand-alone stores.”

Doddle launched in October 2014 as a joint venture between Network Rail and Travelex founder Lloyd Dorfman. The store network allowed customers to send and receive parcels in their dedicated stores at railway stations, commuter hubs and university campuses in the UK.

Commenting on the news, David Jinks, head of consumer research at ParcelHero, added: “It is small surprise Doddle are to concentrate on kiosks in third party stores, as its own stand-alone stores have been losing money since launch. Make no mistake, there is a huge future in Click and Collect, with users expected to pick up £6.5 billion of items from lockers and pick up points this year. But Doddles’ stand-alone store network model was too small to be a success.

“E-commerce is rising by around 20 per cent year-on-year and our latest industry research reveals it will account for over 40 per cent of the entire retail market by 2030. Clearly there is a strong future for parcel pick up and collection points. But as soon as Doddle and Network Rail’s relationship hit the buffers, this particular business model was doomed.”

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