Posti has announced plans to extend its parcel locker network as a response to the growth of e-commerce. The company plans to increase the number of Posti parcel lockers by over a hundred to 2,000 by summertime and aims to have a network of 4,000 parcel lockers by 2022.
“Soon, up to 85% of Finns will have a Posti parcel locker less than one km from their home. Finns like parcel lockers because they are located along everyday routes and have long opening hours,” says Heiko Laubach, Posti’s Head of Retail Network.
Posti’s retail network, including pick-up points where customers can be served in person, consists of a total of 2,800 service points. By the end of this year, Posti plans to have 3,000 pick-up points throughout Finland.
Posti has increased the use of smart technology in its new parcel lockers. The lock technology of the first 200 white Posti parcel lockers with separate locker locks will also be updated over the summer.
“We want to introduce more ways to use parcel lockers and use data to develop our back-end systems, which help improve the customer experience. For example, customers will in the future be able to open a locker using the OmaPosti app on their phone,” says Laubach.
In order to meet the rapidly increased demand for delivery services due to current circumstances, Posti has established temporary parcel pick-up points, which are normally used during the Christmas season, in addition to speeding up the expansion of its parcel locker network. Parcels are sorted and delivered to Posti’s pick-up points according to an accelerated schedule also on weekends in the capital region and larger cities. Increasingly it has also carried out home deliveries on Saturdays.
Popular pick-up points fill up quickly, which means that parcels cannot always be routed to the pick-up point selected by the customer. “I understand the frustration customers can feel when their parcel does not end up in the pick-up point they wanted to use. The major expansion of the Parcel Locker network as well as the expansion of existing popular Parcel Lockers are examples of the measures we are taking to improve the situation,” says Laubach.
Source: Posti
