In the run-up to Christmas, a bugbear for many Irish people shopping online is the fact a huge number of UK retailers do not deliver to Ireland. Their websites require a UK deliver address, often because they offer free delivery for large orders within the UK. Enter parcel delivery service DPD Ireland.

The company has launched Parcel Wizard, a service that allows Irish shoppers to order from UK websites, by providing them with a virtual UK address. The consumer uses the Parcel Wizard virtual address when ordering online.

Once the parcel is received into the DPD virtual address location, DPD will readdress the parcel to the consumer’s home address or another preferred address.

DPD Ireland chief executive Brendan O’Neill says the company will charge Irish consumers €3.85 for this service, but will provide three free “trips” to shoppers between now and December 31st as part of the company’s launch offering. He says DPD allows customers to customise their deliveries and change the date and location of delivery. “Our goal is to make parcel delivery as convenient as we can for our customers . . . to make the delivery process simpler and hassle-free, improving the whole online shopping experience.”

DPD will go head-to-head with Parcel Motel in offering the virtual UK address.