Irish parcels carrier Nightline has opened its 100th parcel terminal only eight months afterthe first unit was installed and plans to operate four hundred terminals by the end of 2014 to cope
with e-commerce-driven demand.“Such is the rate at which e-commerce is growing in Ireland and such is the convenience ofParcel Motel that we’re adding 100 new subscribers each and every day,” Nightline’s CEO John Tuohysaid. “One hundred of the terminals are already online and the pace of installation is set toincrease still further in order to meet demand.”
Each of the ‘Parcel Motels’, supplied by Polish InPost, features 80 lockers and can serve asa delivery point for subscribers or those selecting Parcel Motel at e-commerce checkouts. While thefirst terminals were opened in Dublin, Tuohy said that all of Ireland’s major towns and citiesincluding Cork, Limerick, Port Laoise, Waterford, Galway, Letterkenny and Sligo all now had theirown Parcel Motels.
Also, Tuohy said that almost three-quarters of those using the system were full-timeprofessionals who demanded convenience to satisfy their online shopping habits.
“When we launched Parcel Motel in July, we were confident of its appeal to consumers but evenwe have been surprised at the speed with which it has been adopted as a preferred delivery method.It appears that it has proven to be particularly attractive to those individuals in full-time workwho didn’t want to take days off to wait at home for deliveries but valued the opportunity to pickup purchases at a place and time of their choosing,” Tuohy explained.
According to Tuohy, a customer analysis revealed that 71 per cent of the Parcel Motel usersare in full-time work with a further 11 per cent occupying part-time jobs and more than half areaged between 30 and 44 years of age. 67 per cent also claimed that they shopped online for moreitems last Christmas than the year before with fashion, toys and consumer electrical goods the mostpopular of all items shipped to the locker boxes.
Nightline’s growing share of Ireland’s rising e-commerce parcel volumes has also spurred thecompany’s decision to expand its depot network. In recent months, Nightline has added facilitiesin Tralee and Dublin to existing sites in Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Waterford, Galway, Sligo andLimerick.
