Out-of-home delivery solutions for online orders continue to grow in popularity, with 44% of regular e-shoppers in Europe preferring their parcels to be dropped off at nearby lockers instead of on their doorsteps, a five percentage-point rise over 2022, according to French parcel locker provider Geopost.
Consumers say they are increasingly turning to out-of-home delivery for flexibility and affordability reasons, with 51% of regular e-shoppers usually using more than one delivery place, the company said. That demand has pushed locker and parcel shop deliveries to a steady increase, now accounting for 23% and 24% respectively of the usual delivery locations, up by 3 and 4 points on last year.
One of the main drivers of the trend is the growth of international flows from exporting shippers, the firm found in its “2023 E-shopper barometer” survey, released in February. In 2023, Geopost cross-border out-of-home deliveries grew by 43% versus 2022, and the trend has continued in Q1 2024, with a further 75% increase of those volumes.
One example of that expansion was the 2023 decision by Chinese e-commerce logistics goliath JD Logistics to expand its international express delivery options to 23 countries across North America and Europe, supported in part by a strategic collaboration with Geopost.
In response, Geopost says it has notched a 25% growth of parcels delivered out-of-home in 2023 versus 2022. The firm operates through its commercial brands DPD, Chronopost, BRT, SEUR, and Speedy. Geopost’s network includes a mix of parcel shops and lockers, with options that support parcel deliveries to a locker, to a parcel shop, to a neighbour, or at a workplace. As of end of April 2024, Geopost’s network encompassed 110,000 pickup points in Europe.
