A new report says European parcel shops and locker networks are 'rapidly becoming an essential component of the logistics operations involved in getting internet purchases into the hands of consumers while also remaining a key element of spare parts logistics operations.'
It goes on to reveal that ‘by far the largest number of locations is currently in Germany’ while France and the UK both have 'extensive networks.'
Belgium and the Netherlands – given their smaller size, are also 'well-served' but southern and Eastern European countries have far fewer sites.
European Parcel Shop and Locker Networks Market Insight Report 2015 updates the study published by Apex Insight last year.
It concludes that the most important driver of demand for locations is the level of business-to-consumer parcels generated by home shopping.
“Home shopping has grown in all countries covered by this report in recent years having more than doubled overall in the last five years. During this period, the number of post offices has fallen. In some countries there are now more parcel shops than post offices.
“In several countries there has been convergence between post offices and parcel shops with the traditional standalone post office becoming much less common in Germany, the UK and elsewhere.”
As for the 'competitive landscape,' many of the leading European parcel carriers, in particular those with a focus on consumer deliveries, are now involved in building up their own networks.
“The most extensive network is that of Otto, which owns the Hermes and Mondial Relay networks, followed by DPD, DHL and UPS. There are also independent players, of which the largest – since the acquisition of Kiala by UPS – is InPost.”
In the Outlook section of the report, Apex Insight concludes that it expects growth in demand for parcel shops and lockers to continue to be driven primarily by the growth of internet retail.
“In particular, the growth of ‘Click-and-Collect’ type models which allow consumers to select a parcel shop or locker as an alternative to delivery to the home, could well lead to growth being faster than that of overall internet retail sales.
“Supply factors are also important with networks currently being rolled out at pace to provide further capacity.”
Key challenges in achieving further growth include: acceptance of the concept by the mass of consumers, not just current early-adopters; availability of sufficient sites for more lockers and, in particular, parcel shops and availability of sufficient capacity at the sites to cope with anticipated growth in demand.
