Trolley Bags go global
Whether it is the big monthly shop, or the smaller weekly one, one thing both supermarkets and consumers alike strive for is a slicker, more efficient shopping experience.
Online shopping means goods can be delivered direct to your door, whilst self-scan-and-pack checkouts, and the more recently introduced hand-held scan-and-pack systems all make shopping easier for consumers, for many, it is the end of the shop that causes the most stress – the dreaded bag pack.
In 2010, Paul Doyle, a father regularly in charge of the weekly shop, created a nifty invention to help with the stress of bag packing – a series of bags that fit together and into shopping trolleys. He named this invention ‘Trolley Bags’ and when he pitched this idea to the Irish version of Dragon’s Den, he scooped the quickest offer in the history of the programme.
Trolley Bags is a series of four bags that, in one simple action, spread out with its plastic arms resting on the trolley, giving the shopper a series of open and upright bags to either scan and pack items directly in to the bags, or can be placed upright at the checkout meaning shoppers have the use of both hands to pack.
Four years later, this simple but revolutionary bag packing system has been fine-tuned and suitable manufacturing capacity created. It is now set to explode on the global scene with the imminent launch of the European and US websites and the finalisation of distribution partnerships in Israel, Greece and Portugal.
Sales in the UK have been strong, with thousands of sets ordered within hours of the company’s website going live, and predicted global sales are believed to be up to half a million by 2018.
Joby Cronkshaw, managing director of Trolley Bags, comments: “The need for people to get in and out of the supermarket as quickly as possible is as relevant today as it was four years ago when Paul first created the prototype, and, judging by the interest shown overseas, bag packing is as big an issue for shoppers in the States as it is in the UK.”
To date, Trolley Bags has sold in excess of 15,000 of its products in the UK and it has interest shown via social media in countries like Holland, Spain and Israel that spurred the brand to look at taking the Irish invention to the Rest of the World.
Joby explains: “Social media has played a crucial role in the marketing and sales of the product, with consumers literally contacting us from all around the world due to our videos being shared on social media channels. We have worked hard to get our distribution processes in place, meaning we are now ready to concentrate on international sales.
We have spent the past four years developing the product and testing our marketing strategies and now have everything in place to properly get the product to mass market.”
Sales in Australia and New Zealand are already going well, with the European website and U.S. version due to go live imminently.
“We have containers of Trolley Bags ready and waiting to fulfill the orders at home and abroad and cannot wait to see our product being used by shoppers in supermarkets all over the world,” says Joby.
For more information or to watch a video of the product, please visit www.thetrolleybags.com
