Last-mile delivery is thought to be the movement of goods from a transportation hub to the final delivery destination which is roughly a personal residence. The objective of last-mile logistics is to deliver items from shippers to the receivers as fast as possible. Nowadays, the last mile logistics has become one of the popular areas of focus for retailers because of the growing demand for online business.
E-commerce has been increasingly developed within these years. During the decade, there are lots of industries show their massive potential for benefits. For instance, the shopping festival called “The Double 11”, it is a special date designed by a Chinese E-commerce giant Alibaba broke the sale record last year, billions of revenue indicate the online shopping industry is going to take over some of the other industries in terms of business potential. Meanwhile, the delivery solution also change dramatically, more and more packages are under great management nowadays. Therefore, a mature system is in great need to assist the courier and customers to sort loads of packages.
Parcel locker is designed as an effective tool to save the energy for both the postmen and customers.
A parcel locker is a secure cabinet to let mailers receive large packages. Parcel lockers are suitable for parcels that don’t fit into standard parcel containers. By applying the smart parcel locker, shippers are no longer to make multiple delivery attempts but only to leave them in a parcel locker, where the packages are held for the recipient to collect. The parcel locker system helps to improve the global last-mile delivery experience. In a recent analysis on the global parcel locker market by Belgium-based International Post Corporation, parcel lockers are already widely used in Finland, Denmark, and China – with a usage rate of up to 43%. Consumers would like to use the parcel locker method citing the 24/7 availability, ability to select delivery locations and lower delivery prices as reasons.
How can parcel locker networks be implemented effectively?
Nevertheless, there are several challenges and considerations that we need to remember and consider when thinking about implementing a parcel locker network for every country:
- Setting up a successful locker network requires significant investments in infrastructure, technology, and operational teams.
- Locker networks may be underutilized if you are a carrier that does not command a sufficiently high parcel volume yourself.
- Add more network densities in the city – to assure parcel lockers close enough to your home.
- The potential traffic jam might be caused when lockers are standing by the roads.
According to these four potential challenges that could intervene in the future parcel locker development, it seems the parcel locker is facing serious problems of situating, a suitable location for setting the delivery solution. As a matter of fact, parcel lockers are divided into the outdoor locker and indoor locker, both of them are created to release the delivery pressure and some of them are placed in public places because customers are easy to store their parcels in the locker and postmen are pleased to see all the parcels are all stored systematically. Therefore, in order to make parcel locker networks turn into a useful solution for our delivery challenges, they should layout cautiously that locker providers and delivery companies should work together seamlessly across the industry.
All in all, the last-mile delivery has been completely transformed as more online shopping websites are filled with your explorer. The scenario is going to come true: A postman, leaves the parcel in one of the boxes of parcel locker and he sends a message to the owner of the parcel in a relief.
