Latvian Post sets up home parcel locker network in partnership with Cleveron

Latvian Post (Latvijas Pasts) is cooperating with the Estonian parcel technology specialist Cleveron to set up a home delivery parcel locker network which will be open to all service providers, with the first lockers to be installed in August.

Customers can rent a personal parcel locker for €9.90 per month and have it installed in front of their home. The home parcel locker Cleveron 201 can be used for the delivery of mail, parcels and groceries and is operated via an app.

Latvijas Pasts claims to be the first postal operator in Europe to set up such an innovative home delivery service, which will be launched by its subsidiary Mailmaster.

"With the rapid growth of home deliveries, we needed to think about how to deliver items to customers in the most convenient way. A home parcel locker is definitely such a solution," said Gatis Ģērmanis, a member of the board at Mailmaster.

Suitable for any postal or parcel shipments and groceries

The home parcel locker will allow customers to receive virtually any postal or courier item, parcels and groceries thanks to its size. "For example – you can put 44 standard-size shoe boxes or five fully filled large standard food bags in the parcel, so you don't have to worry about not getting something through the parcel locker," Ģērmanis explained.

"The advantages a home parcel locker offers match the needs of our customers. They could be described in three words: convenience, security, simplicity. Convenience means that customer save time because they do not need to wait at home for a courier or go anywhere to pick up their orders. Parcels are safely stored in a steel locker in front of their house and the locker can only be opened by the owner or the assigned family member via the app. The simplicity stands for the ease of installation and use of the solution,” he added.

Cleveron has been providing innovative parcel lockers and robots for the retail and logistics industries for over 13 years. The company creates its own hardware and software, offering solutions that set industry standards. It has over 40 customers all over the world, including Walmart, Zara, Albertsons, Asda, Woolworths, Falabella and DHL.

Latvijas Pasts launches food deliveries with ELVI to rural areas

Meanwhile, Latvijas Pasts last month launched a food delivery service in rural areas of Latvia in cooperation with the national food retail chain ELVI to support customers living outside big cities during the corona virus pandemic.

After offering food deliveries from ELVI to customers' places of residence in some rural areas for an initial period of six months, the postal operator has now fully implemented the service in all rural areas of Latvia.

Customers can also track the fulfillment of their orders digitally allowing them to receive their items even more conveniently and plan their time more efficiently. In large cities with a wide range of food retailers and suppliers customers don’t have a need for such a delivery model, the postal operator explained.

The advantages of food deliveries from ELVI through Latvijas Pasts are speed and easy access for every customer. “It is particularly important to provide such an opportunity in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, when people take more care of their health, but it is not always easy to get safely from remote rural areas to a point of sale in a populated area,” Latvian Post said.

Latvijas Pasts is a government-owned company that has approximately 3,200 employees and 600 PUDO points. In 2020, it generated revenues of nearly €100 million.

As a national food retail chain, ELVI has been bringing together small and medium-sized Latvian retail companies in various regions under a franchise agreement for 21 years. It offers customers an enjoyable shopping experience, a modern shopping environment and products of well-known international brands and small regional manufacturers. ELVI employs more than 1,000 people.