Ebay to launch Shutl courier service in London by 2014

The e-commerce retailer recently unveiled a number

of new add-ons to its website, including the expansion of its same-day delivery service to 25 new locations and the addition of ‘collections,’ which allows eBay users the opportunity to create personal groups of products available on the site. The eBay Now delivery service is already available in New York, San Francisco and Chicago as of this week and will be available in London by early 2014.

To help cope with their new – same day delivery service in London, eBay acquired UK based Shutl courier service in a closed deal. The UK business is a marketplace that uses a network of local couriers to deliver items purchased from the e-commerce site within a few hour and is currently active across the country.

Shutl was first founded four years ago and was plotting a US expansion plan for this year, before eBay made its bid for the company. CEO of the courier service, Tom Allason wrote on the company blog that the merger is ‘a doorway to a much greater opportunity, one that we at Shutl can’t wait to start executing on.’ The e-commerce retailer is pleased with the acquisition, stating that Shutl’s “technology, talent and expertise will help eBay to reach its goal of expanding its local delivery capabilities.”

Ebay currently has 124 million active users and 25 million sellers across the global, with over 500 million live product listings.