DPD has signed up railway station parcel shop specialist Doddle to its ‘Pickup’ scheme, with more retailers expected to be recruited.

The DPD initiative, first announced in March, allows online shoppers to buy a product from one retailer and pick up from another retailer’s stores, offering an alternative to home delivery. It is set to go live on June 22.

Doddle, a joint-venture between Network Rail and Travelex founder Lloyd Dorfman, is joining Halfords and the Rowlands and Numark Pharmacy chains as part of the DPD network. More retail “partners” are due to be announced in the “coming weeks”, DPD said, but has declined to confirm who they are.

DPD is aiming to have a network of 2,500 parcel shops for the scheme.

Dwain McDonald, DPD’s chief executive, said: “One of our core objectives was to have shops located within five minutes of most people in London, and working with Doddle gives us some fantastic locations in the capital.”

Doddle, which launched last September, currently has 34 parcel stores nationwide, including sites at Waterloo, Cannon Street and Victoria stations and Westfield Stratford shopping centre. Retailers including Amazon, Asos and New Look are signed up to Doddle, allowing products to be picked up and collected via its outlets. Doddle aims to have around 100 stores by the end of the year.

Financial details of the tie-up between Doddle and DPD were not disclosed.