K-Food Stores’ post and parcel transactions quadruple

Finland’s K Group has reported that the volume of parcels and postal transactions taking place in its K-food stores more than quadrupled in 2016 from 3m to 14m. In a statement issued yesterday (16 May), K Group (also know as Kesko) said that it will continue to invest more in the development of its network and products for parcel and postal services.

Currently, parcel and/or postal points can be found in approximately 800 K-food stores across Finland. In addition to national postal operator Posti’s postal service points and parcel collection lockers, K-food stores also include UPS pick-up points, DHL packstations and the Matkahuolto delivery network, which continues in the K-Markets that were previously Siwa and Valintatalo stores.

In the future K-food stores will also have DB Schenker pick-up points. The K Group and DB Schenker signed a nationwide cooperation agreement in April and the aim is to have DB Schenker pick-up points in K-food stores alongside other parcel points by the end of the year.

Petri Toivonen, Kesko’s Services Director, said: “The parcel and postal service network of K-food stores is already the most extensive of any grocery store chain in Finland and our agreement with DB Schenker and Matkahuolto as well as the strong growth of co-operation between K-food stores and Posti will mean that almost every type of parcel can be collected from a local K-store when people go grocery shopping in the future.”

Antti Jarva, Head of DB Schenker’s Parcel Finland, added: “K-stores will further diversify the network of our widespread pick-up points and we will also deliver online purchase shipments via DB Schenker’s own international network, even from China to your local K-store or carried and installed directly in the consumer’s home. We also support online vendors with ready-made IT interfaces, which means using our distribution and pickup network is smooth,” says