La Poste’s boutique-style Pickup Stores and its self-service parcel terminals Pickup Stations have proven a clear success since their launch late last year and look set for further growth, according to the French postal group.
The three initial Pickup Stores, located at Gare Saint-Lazare in central Paris and two metropolitan train stations (Evry-Courcouronnes and Ermont-Eaubonne) offer not only parcel shipping and collection but diverse retail products, including groceries, drinks, cleaning, repairs and other services, with long opening hours.
The average daily parcel volumes at these three stores has tripled to more than 100 a day, which is likely to increase even more in the run-up to the end of year holidays, La Poste said. One customer in three not only collects a parcel but also buys one or several goods from the store.
Meanwhile, the number of Pickup Stations, which has doubled from the initial 100 last year to about 200 at present, is scheduled for major expansion in 2016 with an increase to some 1,000 locations across France in cooperation with technology partner Packcity, a joint venture with Neopost.
Some 6,500 e-commerce websites in France now offer parcel delivery through Chronopost or Colissimo to a Pickup Station. The self-service parcel terminals, supplied by Austrian firm KEBA, are mostly located at high frequency consumer locations such as train stations, bus stations, car parks, university campuses and shopping centres.
