France joins InPost parcel lockers network
Within two years, 2,500 parcel terminals will provide France with 24/7, self-service collection and dispatch of parcels from convenient locations. A cornerstone of InPost’s global expansion has been strategic partnerships with leading players in each local market. In France, Colis-Privé will be the confirmed logistics partner. Further partnerships for locations, e-commerce and logistics will be announced shortly.
After the UK, France is currently the largest e-commerce market in Europe, forecast to be worth EUR 53 billion in 20141. Perfectly suited to e-commerce requirements, the InPost parcel locker network in France will expand to reflect the dynamic e-commerce growth there. The possibility to collect parcels in under 7 seconds with a QR code on a smartphone partly explains the rapid growth in popularity of InPost parcel lockers amongst e-shoppers.
“France is one of our priorities- installation of the planned 2,500 terminals is already underway. We are confident that convenient location, 24/7 availability and service excellence will meet the high expectations of the French market. Partnering with key players on the French e-commerce market is vital to our strategy” – said Rafal Brzoska, CEO of InPost.
France is just one of the most recent countries to join the InPost parcel locker network. Since the beginning of 2014, development of the InPost parcel lockers network on the European market has accelerated. Most recently, InPost has signed strategic agreements with Carrefour Italy, TNT Express Italy and with Italian e-commerce platform- Banzai. Up to 1,000 InPost parcel lockers will be installed in Italy by the end of 2015. Moreover, InPost confirmed cooperation with Transport for London (TfL) to locate InPost parcel lockers at parking near London Underground stations. Additionally, InPost has secured an agreement with Morrisons Supermarket- which operates over 500 UK supermarkets- to host parcel lockers across the UK.
‘Tailor-made’ InPost solutions can already be found on 20 international markets: Australia, Chile, Great Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Estonia, Poland, Russia, Cyprus, Slovakia, the CzechRepublic, Saudi Arabia, Columbia, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala. There are currently over 3,500 parcel locker units based on InPost’s technology located worldwide. The company plans to introduce a further 16,000 across Europe by the end of 2016 and is negotiating with new international partners to meet this objective.
However, the expansion in Europe is just the beginning of InPost’s global activity. InPost has established cooperation with CX Courier Ltd.- a leading Asian Courier Company- to implement 300 InPost parcel lockers in Hong Kong by the end of 2016. The first terminals, as part of a pilot project, will be available as early as September 2014, with approximately 150 installed by 2015. With regard to the MENA (Middle East North Africa) region, InPost announced a joint venture with Aramex- the leading global logistics and transportation solutions provider. The partnership will ensure consumers across the MENA region and Africa will be able to access private automated parcel lockers for all e-commerce activities. The network is planned to officially start at the end of 2014 and will cover, amongst others: the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Egypt and the Republic of South Africa.
