A parcel locker is an automated postal box that allows users for a self-service collection of parcels and oversize letters as well as the dispatch of parcels. [1]
A parcel locker is an automated postal box that allows users for a self-service collection of parcels and oversize letters as well as the dispatch of parcels. [1]
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 An Amazon Locker kiosk in Toronto | |
| Company type | Division |
|---|---|
Areas served | Canada, France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, United States, Spain, Japan, Australia, Mexico, United Arab Emirates, Austria |
| Parent | Amazon |
| Website | amazon |
Amazon Locker is a self-service package delivery service of parcel lockers offered by online retailer Amazon. [2] Amazon customers can select any Locker location as their delivery address and retrieve their orders at that location by entering a unique pick-up code on the Locker touch screen. [3] [4] However, certain third-party sellers on Amazon may not be able to ship to an Amazon Locker, due to their use of other shipping services such as FedEx or UPS that require a signature. There are several sizes, but when ordering, amazon.com reports some parcels are too big to be delivered to a locker.
The Amazon Locker program was launched in September 2011 in New York City, Seattle, and London. [5] As of June 2018, Lockers were available in over 2,800 locations in 70+ cities. [6]
A customer orders a parcel from Amazon and has it delivered to a Locker location. Amazon's preferred carriers deliver to the locker, and the customer receives a digital pick-up code via email or text messaging. Once the unique pick-up code is entered into the locker's touch screen, the assigned door opens for package retrieval. Amazon customers have three days to collect their packages once they receive their pick-up code. [7]
Amazon customers can also return packages to select Amazon Lockers. [8] Amazon Lockers can sometimes be full and therefore not available when a delivery is attempted. In that case customers will have to wait an unspecified amount of time until space is available.
Amazon partners with retail stores such as 7-Eleven [9] and Spar [10] [11] to host Amazon Locker kiosks. Retailers receive a stipend from Amazon to host the kiosks. Staples and RadioShack joined the program briefly in 2012, only to withdraw the following year. [12] [13]
7-Eleven has kiosks in 186 locations in the US as of 2015. [14]
In the United Kingdom, Amazon has a partnership with Co-op Food and Morrisons. Lockers are located within some Co-op and Morrisons stores. [15] Since 2012, libraries in West Sussex have also been operating Lockers. [16] Large retail centres often have Amazon Lockers, for example there are two in One New Change in London, [17] and there is one in Stratford Centre. [18] The largest Amazon Locker in the world and the busiest in the UK is called Ivory. It has 115 lockers and is located near the Rootes building at the University of Warwick. [19] [20]
Amazon has also expanded the Locker program in Canada, France, Spain, Germany and Italy. [21] [22] [23]
In 2017, Amazon announced plans to launch Amazon Locker in select Whole Foods Market locations. [24]
Amazon Hub is a delivery locker for apartment lobbies. The delivery locker accepts packages from all carriers. [25] Amazon Hub was in beta from 2017 [26] until June 2018, when Amazon announced that its Hub program would be available to all property management companies throughout the United States. [27]
As of 2020, Amazon was using "Amazon Hub Locker+" to refer to a staffed version of Amazon Lockers, which allowed for customers to pick up large packages, and for customers to return items without a box. [28]
Several manufacturers [29] [30] [31] offer parcel lockers designed for pickup of drugs, either at pharmacies or in remote locations. One design as an integrated audio-visual connection for conferring with a pharmacist. [32] Drug pickup lockers are deployed at some Costco pharmacies [33] and have been piloted at CVS Health. [34] A shortage of pharmacists in the 2020s increased pressure to adopt this solution. [35] Though delivery of prescription drugs by mail is common, some jurisdictions (for example the U.S. state of Georgia [35] ) have laws which do not allow the use of unattended lockers.
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In Bangladesh, a partnership between ekpay of A2I and Daraz created ekShop-Digibox Parcel locker. [36] The manufacturing of the solution was done completely within Bangladesh and said to be much cheaper than western or Chinese solutions. The lockers were situated at the metro stations for ease of access. [37]
Australia Post offers a similar service with facilities located in or near various post offices. [38]
A courier company called Parzel Express introduced automated delivery machines in United Arab Emirates in 2011 manufactured by KEBA. [39]
Packstation is a service run by DHL Parcel Germany, a business unit of Deutsche Post's Mail division, in Germany and elsewhere (e.g. in Italy). It started as a pilot project in 2001 and was quickly expanded. There are 3,000 Packstation machines in Germany [1] and 90 percent of the people living in Germany were within ten minutes of a DHL Packstation. [40] Only ordinary parcels and letters delivered by Deutsche Post can be delivered to Packstations. Moreover, Deutsche Post allows its subsidiary DHL Express Germany to insert a limited number of express parcels. Packstations were originally manufactured by the Austrian company KEBA with newer stations developed by DHL Paket in conjunction with Polygon. [40]
Packstation is a service of parcel lockers run by DHL Parcel Germany, a business unit of Deutsche Post's Mail division, in Germany and elsewhere (e.g. in Italy). It provides automated booths for a self-service collection of parcels and oversize letters as well as self-service dispatch of parcels 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Packstation started as a pilot project in 2001 and was quickly expanded. There are 12,500 Packstation machines in Germany [1] and 90 percent of the people living in Germany were within ten minutes of a DHL Packstation. [40] Only ordinary parcels and letters delivered by Deutsche Post can be delivered to Packstations. Moreover, Deutsche Post allows its subsidiary DHL Express Germany to insert a limited number of express parcels. Packstations were originally manufactured by the Austrian company KEBA with newer stations developed by DHL Paket in conjunction with Polygon. [40]
A major market for Packstation is the increasing number of single people, especially students and time-poor professionals, who purchase products online but are not normally at home at daytime to accept deliveries, or who do not have the time to deposit parcels at the post office during normal opening hours. [41] [42] As of September 2023 there were over 23 million registered Packstation customers in Germany according to Deutsche Post. [43]
Using Packstations is free of charge both for private and business customers; however, prior registration through the web portal Paket.de [44] is required for collection of parcels.
Each customer obtains a magnetic stripe card ("Goldcard") and PIN that can be used to identify the customer at Packstation machines and post offices. Previously, it was possible to use the Packstation by entering the customer number and the PIN. This was changed in 2011 in order to increase security as said by DHL, [45] usage of the Goldcard is mandatory now. On 29 October 2012, a mandatory mTAN was introduced, [46] this is transmitted solely in the SMS notification or can be retrieved from the DHL Paket App. Each mTAN is valid only for one opening procedure (which may entitle to open several booths if the recipient has received numerous shipments), thereby replacing the PIN. Newer Packsations can communicate with the user's mobile phone via Bluetooth if the DHL App is available on the phone. A PIN or TAN is then no longer necessary.
Austria's Österreichische Post introduced a virtually identical service called Post.24-Station in November 2006. The booths are manufactured by the same company that makes the packstations, KEBA. In Vienna, Stations have been erected in supermarkets, petrol stations, and post offices that can easily be reached by public transport.
In the Republic of Ireland, ParcelMotel is owned by the Nightline courier company. ParcelMotel has operated since 2012 and had 124 locations providing over 10,000 locker spaces throughout the Republic of Ireland. All locations were closed on January 31, 2023. [47] ParcelMotel also offered a UK address for parcel delivery which allowed customers in Ireland to take advantage of free UK delivery. They also offered free/business paid return services, motel-to-motel delivery at special rates and a parcel sending service. [48]
A company called SmartPOST, run by the Finnish Posti Group runs a network of self-service parcel terminals in Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. [49] The terminals are located in shopping centres and other public premises. They enable clients to send and receive parcels and pay for them at the collection point. There is a terminal for every Estonian in a range of a 15-minute drive. The parcel terminals were introduced to Finland in 2011. [50] The parcel terminals and the software running the system are manufactured in Estonia by Cleveron. [51]
Turkey's national post, the PTT, has been installing domestically produced Kargomat lockers since 2019. [52]
Latvian company, PostService, runs a network of 39 self-service parcel terminals in Latvia, called Mana pasta stacija (English: My Post Station). Terminals are located in 27 cities and towns in Latvia. The terminals are constructed and manufactured in Latvia by PostService itself. [53]
Additionally as of 2022, in Baltics parcel locker services by Venipak, Omniva, DPD and Latvijas Pasts are operating.
Polish company InPost runs a network of almost 20,000 self-service parcel terminals [54] in Poland called Paczkomaty 24/7. Terminals are located in shopping centres, car parks and gas stations. The terminals enable clients to send and receive parcels. [55]
In the United Kingdom, InPost operate lockers, which are found in various locations including fuel station, railway stations, forecourts and supermarkets. According to the company, they are "strategically located in urban areas where people work, shop and play". [56]
In Russia Parcel lockers have gained a lot of popularity, with multiple big companies offering such a service. Among them are: Logibox, PickPoint, QIWI Post, EMS Russian Post, Yandex Market and Russian Post.
In France, Parcel Lockers are a fast growing segment with main players in the market being: InPost, Amazon and Vinted.
Vinted Go (logistics service of Vinted) was launched in France in July 2022 and will place more than 13,000 Parcel Lockers across the country, [57] creating the largest network in France and one of the largest in the world. The Lockers are manufactured by the Portuguese company Bloq.it, and are placed across nation-wide retail chains such as Franprix, [58] Carrefour, and CASINO stores.
Canadian company BufferBox, which was acquired by Google in November 2012, operates a similar system in Ontario. However, the service has since been suspended, and a message on their homepage shows the company is focusing on Google Express Checkout. [59] When the pandemic arrived in early 2020, retailers scrambled to find ways to meet consumer demand for their products while simultaneously managing last-mile delivery costs, overall margins, and maintaining contactless solutions. Parcel lockers began to fill this need by using technology to reduce logistics costs and provide a frictionless, and contactless option for customers. Our certified medical couriers are here for you, ensuring the timely and secure delivery of your medical essentials. As a growing medical delivery courier company in Seattle, we've got your medical logistics covered with expertise and care, from documents to pharmaceuticals. [60] [ citation needed ]
Amazon Lockers are a similar service specific to deliveries fulfilled through online retailer Amazon. [61]
The United States Postal Service announced a similar service called "gopost", announced in 2011 [62] and with permanent locker installation starting in August 2014 at 17 locations in New York City and Washington, D.C. [63]
Correos de Costa Rica offers a similar service with automated delivery machines located in various supermarkets. [64] The test program started in July 2017. The machines are manufactured in Costa Rica. [65] In 2018, the operation of the smart locker system known as API was started. The Api lockers are manufactured by Correos de Costa Rica itself. The network has 102 locations throughout Costa Ríca. With further expansion in the near future. [66]
FedEx Corporation, originally Federal Express Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "FedEx" is a syllabic abbreviation of the name of the company's original air division, Federal Express, which was used from 1973 until 2000. FedEx today is best known for its air delivery service, FedEx Express, which was one of the first major shipping companies to offer overnight delivery as a flagship service. Since then, FedEx also started FedEx Ground, FedEx Office, FedEx Supply Chain, FedEx Freight, and various other services across multiple subsidiaries, often meant to respond to its main competitor, UPS. FedEx assists in the transport of some United States Postal Service packages through their Air Cargo Network contract.
United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) is an American multinational shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907. Originally known as the American Messenger Company specializing in telegraphs, UPS has expanded to become a Fortune 500 company and one of the world's largest shipping couriers. UPS today is primarily known for its ground shipping services as well as the UPS Store, a retail chain which assists UPS shipments and provides tools for small businesses. UPS offers air shipping on an overnight or two-day basis and delivers to post office boxes through UPS Mail Innovations and UPS SurePost, two services that pass on packages to the United States Postal Service for last-mile delivery.
Package delivery or parcel delivery is the delivery of shipping containers, parcels, or high-value mail as single shipments. The service is provided by most postal systems, express mail, private courier companies, and less-than-truckload shipping carriers. Package delivery is different in each country, and how packages are delivered is closely connected with the cost for delivering to that country as well as population. In 2019, China, The United States, and Japan were the leaders in package delivery while Latvia, Macau, and Iceland were the bottom three. The population of the bottom three barely totals 2 million while the population of the top three tops totals more than 2 billion. Package delivery is an every day occurrence in the US while many other countries do not have this luxury.
DHL is a logistics company providing courier, package delivery and express mail service, delivering over 1.7 billion parcels per year. A subsidiary of the German logistics firm DHL Group, its express mail service DHL Express is one of the market leaders for parcel services in Europe. DHL Express is Germany's main international courier and parcel service. DHL also operates a separate parcel service targeting the German consumer market in conjunction with Deutsche Post.
Deutsche Post AG, trading as DHL Group, is a German multinational package delivery and supply chain management company headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It is one of the world's largest courier companies. The postal division, Deutsche Post, delivers 61 million letters each day in Germany, making it Europe's largest such company. The parcel division DHL is a wholly owned subsidiary claimed to be present in over 220 countries and territories. DHL Group was the largest logistics company worldwide in 2022.
A courier is a person or organization that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are government or state agency employees.
A post office box is a uniquely addressable lockable box located on the premises of a post office.
FedEx Ground, a subsidiary of the FedEx Corporation, is an American ground package delivery company headquartered in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. The company began as Roadway Package System (RPS), founded in 1985 by transportation company Roadway Services Inc., later renamed Caliber System. FedEx bought Caliber in 1998 to complement its existing FedEx Express business and rebranded Caliber's RPS package delivery service FedEx Ground in 2000.
Posti Group Oyj, trading internationally as Posti Group Corporation, is the main Finnish postal service delivering mail and parcels in Finland. The State of Finland is the sole shareholder of the company. Posti has a universal service obligation that entails weekday deliveries of letters in all of Finland's municipalities. Posti's head office is located in Pohjois-Pasila in Helsinki. Posti's history spans nearly 400 years.
Less-than-truckload shipping or less than load (LTL) is the transportation of an amount of freight sized between individual parcels and full truckloads. Parcel carriers handle small packages and freight that can be broken down into units less than approximately 150 pounds (68 kg). Full truckload carriers move entire semi-trailers. Semi-trailers are typically between 26 and 53 feet and require a substantial amount of freight to make such transportation economical. The term LTL can refer to the freight itself, or to the carrier that transports the such freight.
DHL Supply Chain is a division of Deutsche Post DHL and is affiliated with DHL. Headquartered in Bonn, Deutsche Post has 510,000 employees.
Parcelforce Worldwide is a courier and logistics service in the United Kingdom. Parcelforce Worldwide is a trading name of the Royal Mail, which is a subsidiary of International Distribution Services, and is organised within the UK Parcels, International and Letters division of the group. The company delivers to destinations worldwide, using an international partner network. Parcelforce Worldwide is a provider of express delivery services covering 99.6% of the world's population, with over 6,500 employees.
UK Mail, a trading name of DHL Parcel UK Limited, is a postal service company operating in the United Kingdom, which has competed with Royal Mail in collection and distribution of mail, since the deregulation of the postal service in January 2006. Its distribution network delivers mail to local Royal Mail sorting offices for last mile delivery through downstream access.
KEBA AG is an international developer and manufacturer of automation solutions for the industrial, banking, services and energy automation areas. The Austrian company was founded in 1968 and is privately owned. The company has annual sales revenues averaging €315,4 million, of which over 90% are obtained in export markets.
Exel was a supply chain and logistics company operating in North America and Europe, which became a subsidiary of the German firm Deutsche Post in 2005. It reported annual revenues of about $4.2 billion in February 2012.
European Air Transport Leipzig GmbH — often shortened to EAT Leipzig or EAT-LEJ — is a German cargo airline with its head office and main hub on the grounds of Leipzig/Halle Airport in Schkeuditz, Saxony. It is wholly owned by Deutsche Post and operates the group's DHL-branded parcel post and express mail services. It also provides ad hoc charter services including livestock transport.
In supply chain management and transportation planning, the last mile or last kilometer is the last leg of a journey comprising the movement of passengers and goods from a transportation hub to a final destination. The concept of "last mile" was adopted from the telecommunications industry, which faced difficulty connecting individual homes to the main telecommunications network. Similarly, in supply chain management, the last mile describes the logistical challenges at the last phase of transportation getting people and packages from hubs to their final destinations.
BufferBox Inc. was a Canadian startup from the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada that leveraged parcel kiosks to provide consumers the convenience of picking up their online purchases 24/7. Founded by Jay Shah, Aditya Bali and Mike McCauley, BufferBox's mission was to make missed delivery notices a thing of the past. When consumers signed up for the service, they received a unique 'BufferBox address' to use as their shipping address when shopping online. Members then received an email notification with a unique unlock code as soon as their package was delivered which enabled them to pick up their package from their local BufferBox.
A delivery drone is a unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) designed to transport items such as packages, medicines, foods, postal mails, and other light goods. Large corporations like Amazon, DHL and FedEx have started to use drone delivery services. Drones were used effectively in the fight against COVID-19, delivering millions of vaccines and medical supplies across the globe. Drone deliveries are highly efficient, significantly speeding up delivery times and avoiding challenges traditional delivery vehicles may encounter. Given their life-saving potential use cases for medical supplies in particular have become the most widely-tested type of drone delivery, with trials and pilot projects in dozens of countries such as Australia, Canada, Botswana, Ghana, Uganda, the UK, the US among others.
Cleveron is an Estonian company which produces robotics-based parcel terminals for retail and logistics sectors. Cleveron headquarters are located in Viljandi, Estonia.
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| List of entities that have issued postage stamps | ||
