During the trial, which is running in the West Midlands (Minworth), South Yorkshire (Dinnington) and Nottingham, Whistl will collect parcels from local e-tailers and consolidate the packages at dedicated micro-hubs.
It will then pass the parcels over to its partners for delivery.
Whistl said the service would help low-volume e-tailers, who cannot access competitive parcel pricing, save money.
It should also simplify delivery, with Whistl using single labels to make it easier to track parcels.
The use of micro-hubs to pool and sort parcels will also help reduce the environmental impact of deliveries.
E-tailers using the service will be given access to carrier management systems (CMS), allowing them to offer customers a wider range of delivery options, including 24- and 48-hour services.
The CMS will automatically choose the best carrier for the job, depending on size, weight and service required.
Whistl’s service will also provide e-tailers with access to its account management team.
Nick Wells, chief executive at Whistl, said there was “unprecedented demand” for buying goods online during the Covid-19 crisis, and that it was important that small retailers were not at a competitive disadvantage with delivery.
“Whistl has always been a champion for our customers and looking at ways for organisations, no matter their size, to benefit from competition in the delivery space.
“We look forward to rolling out to further locations across the UK depending on the performance of the trial.”
Separately, Whistl has released a study finding that 20% of Brits are less likely to make international online purchases following the coronavirus outbreak.
A further 22% of UK respondents said they had already stopped buying products from all other countries due to the virus.
The survey found that UK consumers were among the least likely internationally to allow the pandemic to influence their purchasing behaviours, with 28% in the US and 27% in Australia saying they were less likely to make international purchases.
In general, Whistl predicted that international online purchases in key markets will fall in the next year thanks to the pandemic.
