USPS to trial parcel collection lockers in Virginia

The US Postal Service will begin trials next week with parcel collection and delivery lockers that could improve first-time delivery rates for packages to consumers. The service is being branded “gopost”, with around 20-25 locations planned throughout the Northern Virginia area, close to Washington DC.

This will range from Arlington to the western suburbs in a variety of retail and service locations, although there have been challenges to locating parcel lockers in Alexandria because of the city’s planning restrictions.

USPS president and chief marketing/sales officer Paul Vogel revealed initial details of the trial this week at the Mailers Technical Advisory Committee meeting at Postal Service headquarters.

As he spoke about various efforts to increase revenues in the growth area of packages and e-commerce, Vogel said USPS recognised that not everyone can be home to receive items during the day, and some consumers would prefer if items were not left in a safe place or with an apartment building concierge.

As an alternative, he said parcel lockers could provide easier access for consumers to both accept packages and send out items for delivery elsewhere.

“A lot of Posts around the world have been doing this for some time,” said Vogel. “In this beta test, we are rolling out 20 of these in Northern Virginia to see how it works. If the test works, we think this is a really good delivery mechanism.”

A spokesperson for USPS could not reveal too many details of the gopost trial, although she did provide a picture confirming the red and blue branding that Vogel told MTAC had tested very well with consumer focus groups.

USPS told Post&Parcel that the gopost kiosks would be equipped with a touchscreen, scanner and receipt printer for those customers who want hardcopy receipts along with electronic versions that would be automatically generated with every transaction.

The kiosks will initially accept only pre-paid parcels, with payment made via USPS services like Click-&-Ship and Merchandise Returns services, but the kiosks will incorporate other payments at a later date, the USPS spokesperson said.

e-commerce

While First Class Mail volumes have dramatically fallen in recent years, USPS has seen quite some success with its package services, particularly with its flat-rate offerings and lack of fuel surcharges.

E-commerce sales have doubled in the US in the last year, but online shopping still only accounts for around 5% of US retail sales so far, so the Postal Service sees the area as ripe for potential growth as more Americans choose to shop from home online.

Vogel told MTAC that his team was working on various aspects to pursue that growth potential. Along with the alternative delivery options through the gopost trials, he said USPS was looking into establishing a suite of returns services. “At the end of the day, returns is what is going to keep USPS a vibrant business,” he suggested.

USPS is also working on international services, with huge growth at the moment in cross-border e-commerce helping a 9% increase in USPS Global division revenues at the moment, particularly from China and Asia.

The Postal Service has put in place 223 Negotiated Service Agreements with mailers that Vogel said should see inbound volumes grow “tremendously”.

Parcel lockers

Parcel collection and delivery terminals, stations or kiosks have been really catching on with the postal sector around the world this year, particularly in Europe where Deutsche Post and Poland’s In Post have been establishing significant networks.

Other operators that have or are set to trial parcel lockers include Austrian Post, Australia Post, Belgium’s bpost, Chilean Post, Estonian Post, Itella Group, Lithuanian Post and Parzel.

Yesterday saw Estonian Post revealing that in the first month of its trial, each week is seeing a 20% growth in the use of its 428 machines, with a Facebook group boasting 25,000 supporters.

In the United States, e-commerce giant Amazon has been trialling its own parcel collection lockers in locations including local grocery stores in cities such as Seattle and New York, which can benefit from extra foot traffic from customers picking up packages.

Last month saw reports that the company has hired real estate firm Jones Land LaSalle to find more locations for parcel lockers.

Amazon did not respond to Post&Parcel regarding the parcel locker project.