Nightline opens depot dedicated to growing Parcel Motel service
Irish parcel carrier Nightline has added a new depot to its network that is completely dedicated to servicing its growing legions of self-service parcel lockers. With more than 150,000 people in the Republic now registered to use the Parcel Motel-branded lockers, the company said it is putting in capacity in the expectation that the parcel locker concept continues to gain traction among consumers.
Launched mid-2012 using technology provided by Polish firm InPost, the Parcel Motel network provides consumers with an alternative delivery point, where they can have e-commerce orders delivered for collection at a convenient time, so they do not have to be at home during a working day to accept delivery.
The Parcel Motel network of more than 8,000 parcel lockers handled more than 1.5m parcels last year, more than double the volume seen in the previous year.
Nightline is expecting further growth with Ireland representing western Europe’s fourth biggest online market, worth more than EUR 4.6bn a year.
The new depot dedicated to the parcel lockers has been established in Dublin’s North City Business Park. The 30,000 square foot facility will have three times the number of workstations to process goods for delivery to Parcel Motel lockers than had been available to the network from Nightline’s Mygan Park headquarters.
“Logical”
Parcel Motel general manager Orla Sheils said the additional capacity was a “logical response” to the continuing growth in e-commerce volumes
“Ireland may not be among Europe’s largest states, but its consumers are some of the continent’s most eager online shoppers,” she said.
“Parcel Motel was launched in order to provide flexibility, convenience and economy in deliveries of goods bought via the internet. As the number of those items is still rising, we understood the need to put even more capacity in place, including a depot solely processing parcels destined for lockers across the country.”
At the same time as putting in the new depot on the outskirts of the Irish capital, Nightline has now added eight of its depot sites across the Republic as additional collection points for members of its Parcel Motel service.
It means as well as the lockers dotted about the country, parcel recipients will be able to have items delivered to Nightline’s premises in Athlone, Tralee, Waterford, Sligo, Cork, Galway and Limerick for collection.
Nightline said it also has plans to continue adding capacity, particularly to help meet demand during the peak season.
Sheils said: “We have plans to further expand provision in order to ensure that retailers have the ability to fulfill orders without delays even during the pre-Christmas peak – the busiest time of the year.”
