Royal Mail offers new parcel drop off and collection experience to consumers by adopting Quadient’s open locker network in the UK

Quadient, a leader in helping businesses create meaningful customer connections through digital and physical channels and a major global open locker network operator, has announced that Royal Mail has joined the Parcel Pending by Quadient Open Locker Network under a multi-year contract. With the aim of offering a new customer service and a great customer experience, Royal Mail will start offering returns and outbound drop-off services in an initial c. 200 sites by May 2024, with the expectation that Royal Mail will ultimately use lockers in 3 000 locations as the UK network grows in the coming years.

Utilising Quadient’s open locker network, available close to the communities in convenient locations such as Rontec and MFG forecourts, Stonegate Group pubs and APCOA parking sites, Royal Mail will start by offering the ability to drop off returns or send parcels in branded and dedicated Drop Box units. This will be expanded in the future to include the collection of items sent directly to lockers and the redelivery to a locker.

Geoffrey Godet, Chief Executive Officer of Quadient, said: “We are honoured by Royal Mail’s trust in our solution and our business model. We take pride in seeing how quickly our open locker network has grown since we first announced it in the summer of 2022, a testament to the success of our agnostic approach, addressing the needs of UK carriers and consumers as we serve one of the largest e-commerce markets in the world. Now partnering with the market leader for parcel delivery, we are more confident than ever that customer adoption and usage of our lockers will continue to accelerate, as more locations are installed, and more services are enabled.”

Martin Seidenberg, Group Chief Executive of International Distribution Services, said: “Our expansion into lockers with 24/7 access will give our customers even greater choice of more than 21,000 locations to drop off parcels. We want to make it as convenient as possible for customers to send and return parcels, fitting it in around their daily routines with a range of options for different lifestyles.

We are continually finding new ways to improve our services, including more online postage options through our website and app, 24/7 drop off at locations like our parcel postboxes, use of Collect+ stores and Post Offices, and collection from home through Royal Mail Parcel Collect.”

Royal Mail is the largest carrier to join Quadient’s Open Locker Network, along with other key players. The outdoor and indoor Open Locker Network allows consumers to send, return and pick up parcels at a time that suits them. The network includes Quadient’s award-winning Parcel Pending Drop Box lockers with built-in label printers, that allow consumers to easily ship merchandise returns and other parcels without needing to have a pre-printed label or access to a printer at home.