InPost expands its UK footprint

Parcel locker provider InPost has rolled out its delivery and collection services to 24 Lidl supermarket stores.

The locations include sites in London, Birmingham and Manchester and allow shoppers to collect online orders before or after their shop.

Customers can also use the lockers to send parcels, meaning they can collect and return items during their weekly shop rather than having to make two separate journeys.

Maximising trips in this manner is of particular importance to reduce unnecessary travel with Britain still on lockdown due to the pandemic. Lockers are also a contact-free delivery method, allowing customers to avoid human interaction and maintain social distancing.

Initial customer feedback on the lockers at Lidl stores has been positive, with nearly three-quarters (74%) of respondents rating the experience ‘very good’ and more than two-fifths (44%) making a purchase while collecting a parcel, confirming the trip-chaining trend.

Jason Tavaria, CEO of InPost, said: “With current lockdown guidance limiting how and when people can leave the house, it is vital that they are able to maximise each trip and not make unnecessary additional journeys.

“Installing delivery lockers at one of the UK’s best-loved supermarkets allows them to do this and also provides a useful, contact-free outbound resource at a time when many Post Offices are closed.

“The positive feedback we’ve already had from customers shows they’re open to change, with trip-chaining becoming more common and demonstrating the demand for greater integration between how people work, shop and play.”