InPost reports increasing demand for parcel locker services

InPost Logo

InPost has released its operational data for 2022, which shows a record year in terms of parcel volumes. The Group delivered 744.9m parcels in 2022 – a 44% y-o-y increase. InPost stated that in Poland, its key market, parcel volumes amounted to 508.4m (+20% y-o-y), whilst deliveries in international markets exceeded 236.5m parcels (+153% y-o-y), 213.1m of which were delivered by InPost’s recent acquisition Mondial Relay (+151% y-o-y). In Q4 2022 alone, InPost delivered 222m parcels. This included 149.4m in Poland and 72.6m in international markets.

The company stated that in Poland it saw an increase in demand for to-door services, as well as its autonomous parcel machine (APM) services. In Poland, the company remains the largest APM network with 19,306 machines (+17% y-o-y) and 2.9m lockers (+21% y-o-y) – almost 90% of all lockers in the market. The number of APMs in Q4 2022 v Q3 2022 in Poland remained the same, whilst the number of lockers increased by 57,000 (individual lockers, not APMs). In the international market, the number of APMs reached 8,633, up 120% y-o-y, whilst locker numbers rose to 196% y-o-y, to 651,000 (individual lockers).

CEO of InPost Rafal Brzoska commented: “The improved consumer experience and productivity gains that our lockers achieve led to exceptional performance in our core Polish market. During [the Christmas] peak we handled a record of almost 5m parcels in a single day and some of our APMs reached a utilisation rate of more than 300%”.

According to InPost, France and the UK remain the focus of international APM deployment. In the UK, InPost has installed its parcel lockers in over 70 railway stations. UK supermarket chain Morrisons has also expanded its InPost locker network to around 80% of its stores. The chain is now expected to host around 390 lockers by the end of January 2023. Commenting on the partnership, Michael Rouse, CEO at InPost International, said: “Our partnership has gone from strength to strength since 2014, and today’s announcement reflects the appetite and interest we’re seeing from consumers about the shopping experience they want. Critically, online shopping is here to stay – but part of delivering on this is a smooth and convenient returns experience for online purchases. That’s exactly where our lockers come in. Morrisons shoppers no longer need to make additional trips to stand in lengthy queues to return items – they can now do so while visiting the supermarket, at a time that suits them best.”

InPost is not the only parcel operator driving an out-of-home expansion strategy. Bpost announced in September 2022 it plans to install lockers at 70 new locations in Belgium as it extended its partnership with the National Railway Company of Belgium, whilst DHL Parcel UK recently announced a partnership with Quadient to offer smart locker delivery service.

As labour and fuel inflation drives up costs of delivery and squeeze retailers’ margins and strikes in markets such as the UK disrupt routine parcel delivery services, it is likely that out-of-home networks in select markets will continue to see significant investment in the hopes of offering retailers cheaper, greener alternatives to last-mile deliveries.

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Author: Nia Hudson

Source: Transport Intelligence, 12th January 2023