Integer.pl partners with Banzai to bring parcel terminals to Italy
Poland’s Integer.pl Group has struck a deal with a major e-commerce company in Italy that should see 400 of its self-service parcel locker terminals established this summer. The deal should see Integer.pl’s InPost terminals set up initially in northern and central regions of Italy, along with major cities including Rome, Milan and Turin.
The first terminals should start to appear in Italy in the coming weeks, with plans to complete 400 installations by June 2014.
Integer.pl Group said following this “first phase”, eventually its parcel lockers will be available in most Italian provinces.
InPost will operate the network of parcel lockers in partnership with Banzai, which it described as the largest Italian e-commerce platform. The Polish company is making a EUR 30m investment in the project, it said.
Banzai Group’s e-stores E-Price and SaldiPrivati will be the first in Italy to offer deliveries to InPost’s 400 parcel locker locations, but partnerships with other e-commerce players will be announced at a later date, the company said, with negotiations already underway with more potential partners.
Integer.pl said Italy’s e-commerce sector was at a very high level of development, with high growth rates each year “similar” to those in Europe’s top e-commerce markets of the UK, Germany and France.
It said online sales in Italy reached EUR 11.3bn in 2013, up 18% on the previous year.
Rafał Brzoska, CEO of the Integer.pl Group, said the country was one of the “priority directions” for his company’s strategy.
“A growing number of people in this part of Europe are seeking to buy products via the Internet – in 2014 nearly 14.4m Italians made use of such an opportunity,” he said.
“E-shoppers expect particular convenience in their package delivery, which is just what InPost lockers provide. That’s why we’ve decided to install up to 400 machines as a first stage of the project.”
Brzoska added that after seeing the popularity of parcel terminals in markets like the UK, this first phase in Italy will not be the end of his company’s ambitions.
“We know that in Italy, the demand for parcel lockers will be constantly growing,” he said.
Banzai
Banzai Group was founded in 2008 as a publisher and e-commerce market platform. Its e-commerce activities extend from books, DVDs and games to jewellery, fashion and electronics.
The company now generates more than EUR 130m in revenue each year. The company describes itself as the second largest e-commerce player in Italy.
Eduardo Giorgetti, the Banzai Commerce chief executive, said parcel locker terminals represented an “essential development” and an extension of his company’s existing “Pick&Pay” service, where consumers can pay for items ordered online when picking them up at Pick&Pay outlets.
“Our customers again are the first ones in Italy to get a solution they will appreciate for its value, 24-7 availability and widest network availability,” he said.
The interest from InPost in Italy comes as the company’s parcel lockers are established or being installed in 19 countries around the world.
The company is not the only one introducing parcel locker terminals into Italy. The national postal service, Poste Italiane, is running a trial using the technology provided by Australian firm TZ Ltd.
