Royal Mail suitor to take on rivals with Amazon-style parcel lockers

[TrueBlueTerrier]

https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/20 ... or-amazon/



The Czech billionaire who has tabled an offer for Royal Mail is preparing to invest some £800m on introducing a network of parcel lockers in a bid to take on delivery rivals.

Daniel Kretinsky, who has submitted a £3.6bn takeover bid, is planning to cut Royal Mail’s parcel prices in the hopes of winning back market share, The Telegraph reported.

Kretinsky is said to be looking to invest in a network of 20,000 Amazon-style lockers where customers can collect and drop off packages more conveniently.

He is planning to spend as much as £800m on the measures over the next three to five years.

Despite most of Royal Mail’s sales coming from parcels, it has lost out on market share in recent years to rival delivery firms such as Evri, DHL and InPost.

Kretinsky’s bid is currently under review and if the deal goes ahead, it will be the first time that any country has allowed its postal service to be controlled by a foreign owner.

It comes as Royal Mail rival Evri, which rebranded from Hermes in 2022, is thought to be in the middle of a heated auction between private equity firm Apollo Global Management and China’s biggest online retailer JD.com.

Evri’s potential £2bn sale comes as parcel delivery firm Yodel is actively seeking new funding just months after narrowly avoiding collapse.

[Barnacle]

This can only mean the loss of lots of jobs. Evri have gone down the cheap as chips route and it’s a hiding to nothing.

[Hyrrokkin]

This can only mean the loss of lots of jobs. Evri have gone down the cheap as chips route and it’s a hiding to nothing.

100%

He means to cut thousands of jobs if he gets his greedy hands on us

[oypostie]

So he will cut prices. Wonder what Evri, DPDs etc....... response will be to that. I suspect it will be to cut prices further and the rush to the bottom will just get faster

[GizzardPuke]

I don't get this parcel locker concept. We'll deliver to your home or your place of work (if they allow it) so who uses these lockers? Is there really that much demand for them? RM say we already deliver 99% of items on the first two attempts so there's just 1% remaining. To me this is a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.
We already had over 1,000 'parcel lockers' in the form of Callers Offices but the stupid two hour a day times are no good to most people.
Lockers are naturally cheaper for RM but not something I have a need for personally. I have a perfectly good (secure) doorstep and neighbours.
Most of the cards I leave are for signed for items. How does that work with lockers?

Regarding undercutting our competitors - we already do in some cases. Everyone assumes Evri are always cheaper than us. They are at some weights and sizes, usually not by much, but a Tracked24 small parcel up to 2Kg paid for online costs £4.19 with RM. Evri charge £5.40 if you drop it off at a Parcelshop and £5.59 if they collect it from you.
Tracked48 small parcel up to 2Kg is £3.39 with us, £4.60 with Evri or £5.59 if they're collecting it.

Of course it may well be different for large mailers with individual contracts but there have been times where I've delivered a parcel exactly the same size and from the same sender as the Evri one which is already lying on someone's doorstep. It surely can't be the buyer's choice to have one delivered by us and one delivered by Evri. Same with Amazon.

[Barnacle]

I don't get this parcel locker concept. We'll deliver to your home or your place of work (if they allow it) so who uses these lockers? Is there really that much demand for them? RM say we already deliver 99% of items on the first two attempts so there's just 1% remaining. To me this is a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.
We already had over 1,000 'parcel lockers' in the form of Callers Offices but the stupid two hour a day times are no good to most people.
Lockers are naturally cheaper for RM but not something I have a need for personally. I have a perfectly good (secure) doorstep and neighbours.
Most of the cards I leave are for signed for items. How does that work with lockers?

Regarding undercutting our competitors - we already do in some cases. Everyone assumes Evri are always cheaper than us. They are at some weights and sizes, usually not by much, but a Tracked24 small parcel up to 2Kg paid for online costs £4.19 with RM. Evri charge £5.40 if you drop it off at a Parcelshop and £5.59 if they collect it from you.
Tracked48 small parcel up to 2Kg is £3.39 with us, £4.60 with Evri or £5.59 if they're collecting it.

Of course it may well be different for large mailers with individual contracts but there have been times where I've delivered a parcel exactly the same size and from the same sender as the Evri one which is already lying on someone's doorstep. It surely can't be the buyer's choice to have one delivered by us and one delivered by Evri. Same with Amazon.

They’ll have to work hard to convince a majority of customers that they don’t want the convenience of us delivering to them. How many times have you had to reattempt delivery 3x plus? Numerous. Most customers can’t be bothered with leaving the house to collect a parcel from some locker which they have never been to or seen before.

Also, there are quite a few products which can’t be left in lockers for safety reasons.

[norris9]

I can only assume lockers will work well in cities, especially London. With so many people living on top of each other a single set of lockers can accommodate a large population of people. London is surely difficult for doorstepping too, it's not like there are porches away from the street, crime is high, there are gated properties, there are large tower blocks....all make it hard to leave parcels.

As for your average town.... I am not sure they'll get enough use to make much of a difference.

[Barnacle]

I can only assume lockers will work well in cities, especially London. With so many people living on top of each other a single set of lockers can accommodate a large population of people. London is surely difficult for doorstepping too, it's not like there are porches away from the street, crime is high, there are gated properties, there are large tower blocks....all make it hard to leave parcels.

As for your average town.... I am not sure they'll get enough use to make much of a difference.

A good indicator of how currently popular the idea of collecting your parcel from a locker is: how often, when scanning your Tracked on a morning, is there an Inflight request to collect from a Post Office? I probably have about three a week.

[Mr Rush]

The first problem with your assumption here is that the recipients of RMs "delivery service" are the customers.

The company is just as guilty of the same misconception when it suits them ('customers don't care about letters on Saturdays', etc). For delivery staff it is understandable whereas RM knows fine well having spent years drumming your same point into us.

Stamped Christmas cards can languish in the frame for a week but Moonpig® Tracked 24® cards must go!

[Barnacle]

Actually, has there been any feedback on how the trial of parcel lockers in Coventry is going?

[Beanyjazz]

So spending £800m over 5 years so people can pick up/drop off parcels. I've got a better idea, maybe call it 'The Caller's Office' where people can bring their red card to pick the parcel up, they could also drop off there (or just use the metre boxes). I imagine it would be a lot cheaper than £800m as it can be staffed with people downgraded for various sickness/injuries. Royal Mail are so silly.

[Barnacle]

So spending £800m over 5 years so people can pick up/drop off parcels. I've got a better idea, maybe call it 'The Caller's Office' where people can bring their red card to pick the parcel up, they could also drop off there (or just use the metre boxes). I imagine it would be a lot cheaper than £800m as it can be staffed with people downgraded for various sickness/injuries. Royal Mail are so silly.

You and your mad ideas.

[Jefferson Starfish]

So spending £800m over 5 years so people can pick up/drop off parcels. I've got a better idea, maybe call it 'The Caller's Office' where people can bring their red card to pick the parcel up, they could also drop off there (or just use the metre boxes). I imagine it would be a lot cheaper than £800m as it can be staffed with people downgraded for various sickness/injuries. Royal Mail are so silly.

They see it as an investment.

A one off spend(over 5 years) rather than paying wages for an unknown amount of time into the future.

Plus there's the potential to close DO's all across the country and centralise operations.

[Beanyjazz]

So spending £800m over 5 years so people can pick up/drop off parcels. I've got a better idea, maybe call it 'The Caller's Office' where people can bring their red card to pick the parcel up, they could also drop off there (or just use the metre boxes). I imagine it would be a lot cheaper than £800m as it can be staffed with people downgraded for various sickness/injuries. Royal Mail are so silly.

RM don't give a flying f**k about the staff with various sickness/injuries. They want rid of them. Look up the workrate formula they have been using for the last decade.

I know it's ridiculous! If you've been at RM on deliveries for 20+ years and don't have any underlying back/shoulder/knee problems etc it's very rare. The fact they are complicit in overworking you to injury, and then discarding you without care is a complete disgrace.

I've had more back problems (sciatica) from RM than I did in the army.

[Hyrrokkin]

So spending £800m over 5 years so people can pick up/drop off parcels. I've got a better idea, maybe call it 'The Caller's Office' where people can bring their red card to pick the parcel up, they could also drop off there (or just use the metre boxes). I imagine it would be a lot cheaper than £800m as it can be staffed with people downgraded for various sickness/injuries. Royal Mail are so silly.

Now now no common sense here please



That would not suit the gig economy slash & burn tactics RM are using to destroy the company and maximise profits.