Research by CollectPlus reveals the nature of students’ parcel sending habits while they are at university
- 24% of students send their dirty laundry home to be washed
- One in ten parents have sent care packages and basic supplies to their children when they have run out of money
- 31% of parents have sent their child a parcel within a week of them leaving home
25 September 2014: British students are just as likely to send their parents a parcel with their unwashed bedding as they are a birthday gift, according to an independent study released today by CollectPlus. As the UK’s student population heads back to university, the survey of 1,000 parents* reveals that almost a quarter (24%) of students send their dirty laundry home for Mum and Dad to wash, with one in six (17%) also sending them their dry cleaning. If it’s not something that needs cleaning then it’s something that needs fixing, with a fifth (20%) of parents revealing they have received clothes that need repairing, with 7% even being sent broken mobile phones, laptops or tablets by their children.
The research shows that doting parents return the favour but are more thoughtful when sending their offspring a parcel. Half (51%) have sent an item their son or daughter needed that was accidentally left behind; one in four (21%) have sent their child something to cheer them up when they have been homesick; one in ten (11%) have sent care packages, while a further 10% have sent basic supplies when their son or daughter has run out of money.
Almost a third (31%) of parents have had to send their child a parcel within a week of them arriving at university – and 8% within a day – with items including:
1. New clothes - 31%
2. Books – 26%
3. Cheques and money – 22%
4. Clothes that have been washed, ironed and sent back clean – 21%
5. Electronics, such as tablets, mobile phones and cameras – 19%
6. Personal hygiene products – 13%
7. Bank statements or mobile phone bills – 11%
8. Shoes – 10.7%
9. Photographs of family/school friends – 8%
10. Music – 8%
However, 23% of parents have had trouble sending parcels to their son or daughter, with 14% having had to take time out of work to send it, whilst one in ten have also had occasions where they have had to miss an appointment or been late picking their other children up – all frustrations that have put a quarter (26%) of parents off ever sending anything again.
Catherine Woolfe, Marketing Director at CollectPlus, said: “The traditional process of sending parcels can be frustrating and time consuming. When you have work and other commitments, such as childcare, to juggle there’s nothing more annoying than spending your lunch hour standing in a queue. People want a convenient and easy way to send their parcels at a time and a place that suits them and in a way that fits into their day rather than their day having to be planned around sending their parcel. Our Send service allows people to do just that, by printing a label off online and then taking the parcel to a local participating store.”
CollectPlus is the UK’s largest store-based parcel delivery and returns company and offers a convenient way for people to send parcels to any UK address. A modern alternative to the Post Office, CollectPlus stores are open seven days a week ‘til late, allowing parents and their children to send and pick up items at a time and place that suits them.
Founded in 2009, CollectPlus is a joint venture between PayPoint, the leading retail payment network and Yodel, the UK’s leading independent parcel carrier.
-ENDS-
For further information, please contact the CollectPlus team at the Red Consultancy:
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 0207 025 6500
CollectPlus scores 8.7/10 on TrustPilot, with 77.9 of customers giving CollectPlus 4/5 stars (as of 17.09.14).
Notes to Editor
About the research
The research was conducted by OnePoll and commissioned by CollectPlus with fieldwork conducted in September 2014. Data was secured via online and surveys. The UK sample consisted of 1,000 parents in the UK, who either have children currently at university or who have been to university.
ABOUT COLLECTPLUS
CollectPlus is the largest store-based delivery and returns service giving online shoppers the ability to collect and drop off parcels at their local store. Founded in 2009, it answers a clear need for a modern alternative to the Post Office that is convenient and easy to use.
The success of the innovative model is reflected in the 260 retail brands that CollectPlus provides returns solutions for, with nearly 100 added over the past year. Click&Collect+, which enables customers to order online and have their items delivered to their local CollectPlus store, is available from a rising number of retailers; from Amazon to Asda and House of Fraser to River Island. This complements the returns offer that CollectPlus provides to retailers, thereby offering a complete delivery and returns service.
With a network of over 5,500 stores open early ‘til late seven days a week; 90% of the UK population already live within a mile of a CollectPlus shop in urban areas and 89% within five miles in rural areas. The store network has grown by over a quarter in the last 12 months and continues to expand.
CollectPlus is a joint venture between PayPoint, the leading retail payment network, and the UK’s leading independent parcel carrier, Yodel.
ABOUT PAYPOINT
PayPoint is an international leader in payment technologies, its solutions transforming payments for everyone from consumer and financial services companies to retailers, utilities, media, e-commerce, gaming and government clients.
PayPoint delivers payments and services by taking the complexity of multi-channel payments and translating it into convenient, simple, value-added solutions. It handles over £14 billion from 775 million transactions annually for more than 6,000 clients and merchants.
With the backing of 24/7 operations centres with dual site processing, PayPoint is widely recognised for its leadership in payment systems, smart technology and service.
Retail networks
The PayPoint retail network across the UK numbers over 27,200 local shops (including Co-op, Spar, McColls, Costcutter, Sainsbury’s Local, Tesco Express, One Stop, Asda, Londis and thousands of independents), where it processes energy meter pre-payments, bill payments, benefit payments, mobile phone top-ups, transport tickets, BBC TV licences, cash withdrawals and a range of other transactions. In Romania, the retail network numbers over 8,500 terminals in local shops, helping people to make cash bill payments, money transfers, road tax payments and mobile phone top-ups. In the Republic of Ireland, over 500 terminals in shops and credit unions process mobile top-ups and bill payments.
PayPoint’s ATM network numbers more than 3,600 ‘LINK’ branded machines across the UK, and 9,100 PayPoint terminals enable retailers to accept credit and debit cards.
Mobile and Online
PayPoint Mobile and Online (formerly trading as PayPoint.net, PayByPhone and Adaptis) handles over 135 million payments for parking, payments and consumer services. In major cities in the UK, Canada, USA, France, Switzerland and Australia, its parking solutions make it easy for people to pay for parking by mobile, as well as providing electronic parking permits, automatic number plate recognition systems for car parks and penalty charge notices.
PayPoint’s core online payments platform is linked to 16 major acquiring banks in the UK, Europe and North America, delivering secure credit and debit card payments for over 5,100 online merchants. Its suite of products ranges from transaction gateway to a bureau service, in addition to value-added services such as FraudGuard, an advanced service that mitigates the risk of fraud in card not present transactions.
ABOUT YODEL
• Yodel is the UK's leading independent parcel carrier
• The company handles over 145 million parcels every year
• It has a relationship with 85 per cent of the UK's top retailers
• Yodel is headquartered in Hatfield and has over 60 locations across the UK, including three central sorts and over 50 service centres
• Yodel offers a range of services to meet the needs of its clients and their customers:
• YodelDirect – Yodel’s door-to-door consumer parcel service, ideal for online marketplace sellers and SMEs
• Yodel Home and Yodel Business - two van-based networks with service centre based drivers
• Yodel Neighbourhood - a neighbourhood courier service offering extended delivery hours
• Yodel World - international service
In addition:
• Arrow XL - Through its sister company Yodel also offers a two man service for white goods and large items up to 120kg.