Today we are celebrating our first birthday as a team! Ben Way formed the SendSocial team on 9th March 2009, by sending an e-mail to some of the respondents to his Twitter and Blog posts, inviting them to work with him in developing and launching the service.
All of us accepted the challenge, and a year on, we have launched and continue to develop the business. We recently introduced our API to online retailers, who are busy getting their sites ready so you can ‘Send by SendSocial’. We also have some other really interesting developments we will be revealing soon, so watch this space!
We have some thoughts already, but where would you like to see SendSocial in another year’s time?
Since we launched in November, we have been amazed by the number of suggestions for how SendSocial could be used in other ways. We have also had interest from a number of organisations wishing to offer a similar service to their customers.
This got us all thinking – wouldn’t it be great if you could buy a gift for your friend from one of your favourite online stores without needing to look up their address?
We are therefore delighted to announce the immediate release of our API, which lets online retailers and service providers offer the same convenience and privacy that we offer on SendSocial.com.
Our Address Brokerage Service allows organisations to easily integrate the SendSocial process to their existing checkout procedure, releasing address data only if the recipient accepts the request. This allows our partners to use existing logistics arrangements, making integration with SendSocial simple and risk-free. There are no setup or monthly fees, and we only charge our partners when requests are accepted.
To safeguard our users’ data, we have a comprehensive application process before potential integrators can start using the API, with stringent terms of usage meaning address data remains private and is only used for the purposes of fulfilling requests that have been accepted. As a final safety net, any improper use of our API is subject to hefty penalties.
We are currently working with a number of online retailers and are looking forward to announcing the launch of our first partnerships very soon.
Please be aware that due to the adverse weather conditions, our courier partner myHermes is experiencing severe difficulties across many areas of the UK. Both collections and deliveries are impacted and myHermes are doing all they can to keep delays to a minimum.
If you wish to check the status of your delivery, please contact us on info@sendsocial.com.
Over the Christmas period there will be a limited delivery service, with no collections or deliveries between 25th – 28th December 2009, or 1st January 2010.
SendSocial wishes our customers and visitors a very happy Christmas, and best wishes for the new year.
Here’s a photographic record of one of our first address-less parcels, which proves they really can be delivered! This one travelled from Newcastle to Derby, and is just one of several test parcels we have been sending recently ahead of our launch.
As you might imagine, there’s a fairly complex website behind SendSocial, and it’s my task to ensure it all works as the SendSocial team wants it to. Here’s an update to let you know how we’re getting on.
We are now in advanced stages of testing with Hermes, whilst doing a great deal of testing on our website. If you have been keeping an eye on SendSocial through twitter search, you will have probably seen some of these tests happening. Forgive us, we’re not trying to spam twitter, rather just carrying out the tests we need to make to launch successfully!
Security is perhaps the most important aspect of SendSocial, and certainly one of the greatest challenges in its development. One of SendSocial’s unique advantages is the fact you never see the other party’s address when arranging a delivery, and we will be promoting the anonymity aspects of SendSocial as much as the low prices and convenience it offers.
Needless to say, we take security very seriously, and have developed SendSocial with this at the forefront of our decision making. We will be securing the whole site using SSL (that means there will be a padlock in the corner of the screen), with the industry leader in Internet security, VeriSign. Not only does this mean your data is encrypted during transmission over the Internet, it also gives you and your recipients, who may be using SendSocial for the first time, the best possible perception of security and professionalism, which we believe is crucial.
Another area we are focussing on is performance – we know you’ll want a website that’s quick and just lets you concentrate on your task, so have been painstakingly refining the system to get the best possible performance for launch. We have taken note from other recent launches that not everything always goes to plan when you flick the big switch, so have built SendSocial on enterprise-grade technologies, allowing us to scale easily as traffic volumes increase. We want SendSocial to be a busy site, so have prepared for this!
Over the next week or so we will be finalising functionality and testing, whilst preparing our systems for launch. It’s very nearly there, and we can’t wait to hear your feedback and suggestions after you’ve given SendSocial a try.
Over the past several months, my task has been to realise the SendSocial team’s ideas and concepts into a website and service our users can use and enjoy. As ideas were refined and consolidated, it became clear how simple the process of sending parcels over social networks and e-mail could be.
We have constructed an elegant 5-step process from request to delivery. When we launch, it will look something like this:
Step 1. Send Request
Once you have signed up with SendSocial, you will be able to make requests to your friends. Simply enter their Twitter screen name or e-mail address and a brief description of what you would like to send them, and click ‘Send’. You can also add a private message to the request, which your recipient will only see when they log into SendSocial. We will even give you a quote for delivery based on the weight of the parcel you wish to send.
We will send an @-reply on Twitter to your recipient, or send them an e-mail asking whether they would like to accept your request.
Step 2. Accept or Decline
When your recipient clicks the unique link on your tweet or e-mail, they will see your item description and message, with the option to accept or decline your request.
If they accept your request, we will ask them to add or select their address along with a few other details ready for arranging delivery with myHermes. Once we have all the information we need, we will e-mail you to let you know your request has been accepted. You can then proceed with arranging delivery.
Step 3. Arrange Delivery
At this point you can select which address you would like your parcel collecting from, confirm your parcel weight and choose from a range of options you might find useful, such as requiring a signature on delivery.
You can even leave a note to the courier for instructions if you are not in when they call for collection. You can leave parcels in a safe place or with a neighbour – just tell us and we’ll make sure myHermes check before leaving a note to re-arrange collection!
Once you are happy with delivery arrangements, you pay by credit or debit card with our secure online payment system and we then generate a parcel label ready for you to print out and stick to your parcel.
Here’s the really clever bit – the label has just your recipient’s name, the SendSocial request reference and a barcode, and that’s about it – no address! myHermes have upgraded their systems to allow us to send address-less parcels through their network and ensure they still get delivered safely within their 3-5 day service.
Step 4. Collect Parcel
We will let you know when myHermes will collect your parcel. This will usually be the next working day so long as you arrange delivery before 8pm. Once myHermes have collected your parcel, we will keep both you and your recipient updated with our online parcel tracking.
Step 5. Deliver Parcel
myHermes will work their magic and deliver your parcel to your recipient within 3-5 days for mainland UK. Just as you were able to provide a safe place for collection, your recipient can also leave instructions if they are not available when their parcel arrives.
Convenience, simplicity and service you can look forward to from Monday 16th November. Prices start from just £3.99 for parcels up to 2Kg.
We have been a bit quiet recently, so here is a short update on how we’re progressing. You’ll be pleased to hear that things are moving smoothly and the entire SendSocial team is working tirelessly towards launch.
Since we last blogged, there have been a number of developments: we are close to partnering with a large delivery company, and our website development and integration with Twitter is going well. The website, which we’ve been working on for a number of months, is really beginning to take shape.
Over the next couple of months we aim to launch a private Beta to those who re-tweeted Ben’s original message during March, then launch a public Beta shortly afterwards. We are looking forward to showing you some sneak-previews of SendSocial shortly!
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