In Czechia, there are over 18 thousand pickup boxes. In the future, they could also offer medicines, for example
The popularity of parcel boxes in the Czech Republic is growing. Contributing to this is the dense network of these lockers as well as the wide range of goods they currently offer. They now also serve, for example, for collecting driver's licenses, license plates, or chilled and frozen food. And that's not all. Their use for dispensing certain medications is also being prepared.
Self-service pickup boxes are preferred for parcel delivery by 56 percent of Czechs, which is three times more than three years ago. At the same time, it is double compared to the European average. This is according to the E-Commerce Trends Report survey for DHL and PPL companies.
The advantage of such lockers is that customers like to decide for themselves not only about the pickup location, but also about the time. Moreover, the dense network of delivery boxes contributes to their popularity.
According to a Kantar survey, interest in self-service parcel collection will continue to grow in the coming years. Around 48 percent of Czech consumers would therefore also welcome more of these collection points being added over the next five years.
Major Players
The largest domestic box operator is Zásilkovna, which currently has 6,700 Z-Boxes.
"Their number will only grow slightly now. We are adding additional compartments to selected boxes, of which there are now over 600 thousand in total. Our goal is for 95 percent of people in the Czech Republic to have a box or collection point within five minutes' walk in cities and within five minutes' drive in rural areas. We have almost achieved this goal,"
said ČTK spokesman for Zásilkovna Ondřej Luštinec.
The second largest operator of its own boxes is Alza with approximately 4 thousand AlzaBoxes. In addition to the mentioned brand, they are also used by other carriers such as PPL, Balíkovna, DPD and others. Approximately half of the goods that customers purchase in the largest domestic e-shop are directed to AlzaBoxes.
PPL has 2,600 of its own boxes. In total, it delivers to 6,100 boxes.
"By the end of the year, we plan to have over 3 thousand of our own PPL boxes and at the same time continue to expand and develop cooperation with partner brick-and-mortar stores, which also function as PPL shops,"
said spokesperson Michaela Tůmová.
From knee-highs to frozen food
The CEO of the online store Pilulka, Petr Toupal, considers pickup boxes to be one of the most used delivery methods for their goods. He claims in this context that more than 40 percent of their shipments now go to pickup boxes. Just a year ago, it was only around 15 percent.
Self-service pickup boxes have long since ceased to serve only for delivering clothes or electronics. The way they are used is expanding. Today, they are used, for example, for picking up driver's licenses, license plates, and their use for dispensing certain medications is being prepared.
The Rohlík network has a special offer for its customers, which through its Rohlík Points allows people to pick up their purchases from locked lockers, which also include a frozen and refrigerated section.
Returns are in vogue
Zásilkovna came up with another innovation in September, focusing on the possibility of easy product returns. According to their survey, nearly 90 percent of people choose an e-shop based on how easily they can return goods. They appreciate four things the most: free returns, simple return process, wide selection of places where they can hand over the package, and the option to return goods through a pickup box.
"For product returns, we are opening the entire Zásilkovna box network, so customers will always have a drop-off point nearby and can easily return parcels to thousands of shops. Moreover, the drop-off is label-free, so the customer doesn't need to print anything at home, just a code and insert the parcel into the Z-BOX,"
stated in his message provided to ČTK Erich Čomor, CEO of the Packeta Group, which includes Zásilkovna.
This may also be one of the reasons why interest in self-service parcel pickup among Czechs will continue to grow in the coming years, according to a Kantar survey. Nearly half of consumers would welcome even more pickup points being added over the next five years.
Sources: original article, ČTK, Zásilkovna, Rohlík
