E-commerce is becoming more and more popular amongst consumers who can easily access goods and services online for competitive prices. As technology progresses and shipping methods develop, e-commerce is proving to be an effective business model for small individuals and large corporations alike. With e-commerce projected to account for over 30% of all retail sales in the UK by 2024 (emarketer 2020), we’re finding many e-commerce businesses are utilising our services to improve their operations.

UK Postbox & E-commerce: how we’re helping e-retailers

Launching an e-commerce business is popular amongst local businesses as well as overseas companies looking to expand into the UK market. Our services can be useful no matter where you’re located; here’s how some of our most popular platform features are being utilised.

Unique business address

Having a unique UK business address can be useful for a variety of reasons relating to e-commerce. When signing up to our service, we’ll provide you with an address that can be used for the following:

1. When registering your business in the UK.
2. To display on your stationery, emails and website.
3. When registering for marketplace and e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Ebay and Etsy.
4. To use for all UK-based mail correspondence such as tax information, letters from HMRC, customer enquiries etc.
5. To sign up for services such as Google My Business that require an address when registering.

In short, to operate an e-commerce business in the UK, you’ll need an appropriate address to use for many of the services that will help you succeed online.

Returns address & storage

We’ll provide you with a returns address to use for any customer returns, as well as up to 30 days free storage at our secure mail sorting facility. This makes it easier for many of our overseas customers to manage their UK e-commerce business from outside of the country, as well as removing the need to provide a personal address when items are being returned. Most modern marketplaces, such as Amazon, will require that you provide a returns address before signing up to their services, so it’s useful to have this prepared before registering as a seller.

International mail & parcel forwarding

When mail arrives for you at your business address, or you utilise our returns address service and have a parcel that needs forwarding, we can help get your items to you wherever you are. From your online account, you can request that we forward items on a case-by-case basis. If you have several packages that need forwarding, we can consolidate them for you to save on shipping costs!

Read & send letters online

Sometimes you won’t need your mail forwarded, and through our online mail management platform, you can access all of your mail remotely. When something arrives for you, such as correspondence from HMRC, we’ll scan the envelopes and send a notification to your account. We can open and scan the contents for you to read immediately, or store it for later action. When you need to reply quickly, just upload your response, and we’ll handle the posting of your letter for you.

Banking services

Our banking services are to help customers accept payments in the UK and deposit funds into their bank account. You’ll need to set up some additional security, but we can receive your cheques and deposit them into your bank account within 24 hours of receiving them. Learn more on our banking services page.

What address & mail plan do we suggest for e-commerce?

If you’re looking for value for money, we recommend:

Dorset business address & letter 10

If you want to appear as a London business, we suggest:

London business address & letter 10

Pay as you go and higher volume mail plans are also available if you expect to receive fewer/more mail. Visit our pricing page for more information.