Customer Spotlight: Scallywags Pet Shop & Grooming Parlour

40 years ago, Diane decided to turn her passion for animals into a fully-fledged brick-and-mortar store. Hop on over to the present day and you will find Scallywags Pet Shop & Grooming Parlour still nestled in the heart of Shirley, Croydon, run by Diane and her daughter Karen, and is now so much more than a store but a growing eCommerce business too.

Scallywags sell pet products for all types of pets both instore and online, from large bags of hay, to cages, accessories, food and an amazing pick & mix section for all type of animals. They also run a successful animal grooming business and are responsible breeders of small animals that are lovingly cared for and handled from the minute they are born. Of course they do not actually ship animals - just the products!

About Scallywags Pet Shop

Scallywags are passionate about animal welfare. They only stock cages and items that are appropriate for the animals and are tried and tested by Scallywags themselves. Their best-selling products are the Volta 100cm cage and the Bano 80cm cage, making a spacious and ear-resistible home!

For Valentine's Day, Scallywags is selling a range of handmade hampers for small and large furry creatures, including lovingly-selected treats, toys, and chews. Our Interparcel pooches are very grateful for their Valentine's presents!

Scallywags pride themselves on providing excellent animal care, customer service and knowledge to their clients. Diane and Karen also breed and home guinea pigs, Mongolian gerbils, Syrian hamsters and fancy rats. All their animals are nurtured from birth in spacious breed-appropriate homes and handled everyday to ensure they grow up happy, healthy and used to human interaction. New owners leave with a well adjusted and happy pet, a wealth of knowledge and a lifetime of support from Karen, making Scallywags a trusted and respected name locally and in the UK pet industry.

Check out some of their adorable animals featured on their Instagram account!

Please note: Animals cannot be sent through any of our courier services!

Before Interparcel

Previously, Scallywags relied on sending parcels through Royal Mail but their services were expensive and not always reliable. Additionally, the Scallywags team found it difficult to transport their parcels to the Post Office because parking was not always accessible at their local branch. The process of packing and transporting large boxes in the car often required two members of staff, using up time and resources. Using the drop-and-go facility made some shipments easier, but their packages were often not collected on the same day.

As their business continues to grow, Scallywags find themselves up against other large pet companies who sell pet housing, accessories and care. So, instead of letting them win, they decided to import specialist hamster cages from Poland to sell all across the UK. That's where Interparcel comes in.

"My shipping is a dream. Not exaggerating in any way. It's an absolute doddle now"

After Interparcel

Since sending their orders through Interparcel, Karen says that shipping is a dream. There are no Royal Mail forms to fill in, no loading the car and no waiting in a queue to ultimately pay a costly delivery fee.

Now, Karen can choose which shipping service to use and has all her parcels collected by the courier directly from the store. Some days, Scallywags has 10 packages collected without any team member moving a muscle. Before Interparcel, that could have taken nearly a whole day. Now, even on the busiest days, 10 parcels from start to finish take just under 2 hours which they said has been the biggest financial game changer with online sales- they could never imagine going back to the way they sent parcels before!

"It is not an exaggeration to say sending a cage from start to finish has gone from 40 minutes per cage to 5 minutes. Short of packing the items, I genuinely do not know how Interparcel could make the process any easier or simpler or more streamlined."

Booking their deliveries through Interparcel has also allowed Scallywags to now confidently offer international shipments because they know that Interparcel has them covered. After completing a booking, they are immediately provided with a VAT receipt, an address & shipping label, and, if needed, a packing list or additional paperwork for worldwide deliveries.

One of the many reasons Scallywags choose to send their parcels with us is because of our real-life customer service team. On the rare occasion they require our assistance, Karen noted a quick call to one of our advisors who are always helpful resolves any issue at hand.

Interparcel Business Tools

Branded Tracking

Our free Branded Tracking tool has allowed Scallywags to create a customised tracking page to build their brand presence and customer retention. Our system will automatically update their customer's confirmation and notification emails with their branded tracking URL and they can add a promotional banner image to encourage repeat orders.

Shipping Manager

Scallywags regularly sell their products through the eCommerce platform eBay. Teamed with our Advanced Shipping Manager, they say that the ability to fetch orders into one place is fantastic. No manual copying of addresses has been a real benefit for Karen because it ensures that the delivery addresses are correct and saves a second member of staff having to check over the details.

Additionally, our Shipping Manager automatically notifies eBay customers that their item has been dispatched and provides them with the tracking information, another valuable part of the tool.

"The automation has meant that apart from a couple of clicks on my phone and the printer printing, the longest part now is picking up the roll of bubble wrap!"

Parcel Presets

Our Parcel Presets feature is a tremendous time-saving benefit for Scallywags' shipments because they don't need to fill in all required information for every order. For example, if they sold a Volta 100cm cage, they can click on the saved preset for the Volta cage. Not only will it pull through the order from eBay and fill in all the customer's details, it will populate the cage size too. After that, Karen can select her desired shipping method and additional transit cover and the booking is complete!

Future Plans?

Equipped with the tools they need to take their deliveries to the next level; Interparcel has given Scallywags the confidence to expand their online presence. Currently, they predominantly sell their items on eBay and Amazon but they hope to develop the eCommerce function of their website. Now that so much of the shipping process is streamlined by our Shipping Manager, they are able to reach out to other businesses and expand their range of products to make a real difference to all small animals.

We are so glad to see that small businesses like Scallywags Pet Shop can make the most out of our free account features and that it's improving the efficiency of their business. Whether you sell on Amazon, eBay or Etsy to name a few, integrating with our Shipping Manager provides quick and easy dispatch.

By connecting with our Shipping Manager, small businesses can also benefit from a range of additional features such as Parcel Presets, Branded Tracking, 'Send Again' and 'Return Parcel' actions and unlimited no-cost label printing options.

Follow Scallywags Pet Shop & Grooming Parlour on Facebook and Instagram for their latest updates, special offers, cutest of pictures of their furries and much more!