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Shiply Ltd.
Company typePrivately held company
FoundedJune 2008
FounderRobert Matthams
HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
Area servedUnited Kingdom, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Netherlands
ServicesOnline marketplace of transport services
Websitehttp://www.shiply.com/

Shiply.com is an online marketplace for transport services, matching potential clients with transport companies already carrying deliveries on the same route.

Overview

Shiply provides an online space where people list items they need to move to a specific location, and then receive bids in a reverse auction format from transport companies having a shipment scheduled on the respective route. The concept employed by Shiply aims to put to use the transport capacity that is usually wasted and to provide cost cuts for the customers (up to 75%). In the usual haulage business framework, the companies are unable to find enough customers for a specific route at a specific time, thus many vehicles are not filled to capacity, while 25% of lorries and 15% of the vans (UK Department for Transport statistics) make their return journeys empty.

The potential clients create user accounts and list the items to be transported, stipulating the maximum they are prepared to pay and specifying whether they can be flexible on delivery time or need it moved immediately. The transport companies which have unused capacity on the respective route and in the specified time bid the lowest amount they would accept for the transport service. A user feedback system is enabled in order to keep track of the reputation of the companies and to help the users in making choices.

The registration is free for both clients and companies. The transport companies pay a transaction-based fee (between 3.9% and 9.9%, depending on the amount of the transaction).

eBay

In March 2009 Shiply launched an eBay widget to be inserted by sellers into eBay auction listings. This gives prospective bidders on larger "local collect only" items the option to import items they have won, or on which they are currently bidding, into Shiply.com. The widget allows them to enter their delivery post code and then Shiply imports the rest of the necessary information.

Area covered

Initially, only haulage companies from UK participated in the marketplace (some of them with overseas routes). In October 2009, the company expanded in Germany, opening a German website and allowing German haulage companies. In August 2010, when the company expanded in Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and France, 15% of shipments on Shiply already crossed national borders and 10% of its business came from the German website.

History

Shiply was founded in June 2008 by Robert Matthams, in Wythenshawe, Manchester. He had the idea of this business concept when a pool table he ordered was delivered to his university in Manchester. The driver complained that he would have to make the return journey to London empty, thereby wasting fuel and his own resources. Matthams created a computer program capable of matching empty lorries with people wishing to transport goods and set up Shiply with an initial investment of £25,000. He was warned that a recession was not a good environment for a new business, but, once started, it proved that the timing was right for a business saving customers money. Mattham's story was covered in UK media as an example of successful start-up business during recession. The company broke even in half a year and then it became quickly profitable.

Nine months after its start-up the company took its first employee. As of June 2009, Shiply employed four people including Matthams, and was planning to expand overseas. At a later date, the company moved its headquarters to London.

Reception

Shiply has been covered in mass media as successful start-up business during recession times, as a provider of cheap shipping alternatives, and as an innovative idea for tackling climate change, reducing CO2 emission (6,5 million kg saved as of September 2010, according to Shiply website). The website has been described as an eBay for transporting goods, with an important role in helping out haulage companies during recession, especially the small family firms.

Awards

Robert Matthams won the title of Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009 for the success of Shiply as a carbon-friendly transport site, saving over 1.6 million kg of CO2 and over £3 million in reduced transportation bills (as of 2009). He was also awarded the 2009 BT Business Essence of the Entrepreneur Award, the 2010 Shell Springboard Climate Change Innovation Prize, and won 100,000 euros in the Dutch Postcode Lottery’s 2010 Green Challenge competition.

References

  1. ^ Ciara Byrne (August 20, 2010). "Shipping Goes Green as Shiply Expands Across Europe". New York Times. Retrieved September 02, 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  2. ^ Mickey Clark (October 29, 2009). "Amid all the gloom, here's one man on the road to success". Evening Standard. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  3. "Announcing Shiply's new eBay widget". Shiply.com. March 03, 2009. Retrieved August 27, 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ "Plan to cut transport waste moving forward with Shiply.com". The Daily Telegraph. May 12, 2009. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  5. ^ "Shiply.com entrepreneur is number one". Manchester Evening News. October 29, 2009. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  6. ^ Andrew Stone (January 4, 2009). "New firms can find an upside to downturn". The Times Literary Supplement. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  7. Katie Taylor (March 23, 2009). "Graduates find hope in small firms". The Mail on Sunday. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  8. ^ "Online middleman saves hauliers from running empty". Crain's Manchester Business. June 10, 2009. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  9. Ben Rooth (June 10, 2009). "Shiply motors to success". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  10. ^ Kara Gammell (February 19, 2009). "Confessions of a saveaholic: How I saved more than £1,000 by shopping around". The Telegraph. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  11. "Hot Links: www.shiply.com". The Sunday Times. July 20, 2008. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  12. "Top ten: Click here to save yourself a fortune". The Scotsman. August 01, 2009. Retrieved August 27, 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ "London Business Wins £40,000 Climate Change Innovation Prize". Fresh Business Thinking. February 18, 2010. Retrieved September 02, 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  14. "Robert Matthams (Shiply.com) crowned Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2009". Shell LiveWIRE. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  15. "Shell winner's site saves £3m". The Independent. November 10, 2009. Retrieved August 27, 2010.
  16. "Innovative Entrepreneurs Keep UK Spirits High". Fresh Business Thinking. April 01, 2009. Retrieved September 02, 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  17. Joanna Bourke (September 30, 2009). "Shiply wins £90,000 in green competition". RoadTransport.com. Retrieved September 02, 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

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