Royal Mail is to roll out 1,400 parcel postboxes across the UK in a move to win a greater share of the online shopping market.
The move follows a successful trial of 17 parcel postboxes in Northampton and 13 in Leicester last year.
If this latest roll out is successful, Royal Mail will look at converting all its existing post boxes to take parcels. The company has 115,000 postboxes, which are less than half a mile from 98.3% of all addresses in the UK.
Royal Mail, which last year delivered 1.3 billion parcels, is targeting its parcel postboxes at small businesses, marketplace sellers and customers making returns. Parcels are limited to 2kg in weight.
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The roll out, which will take place over a six month period from August, will begin with the conversion of 1,400 existing meter boxes to parcel postboxes which will have a wider aperture and a more secure design.
Businesses and marketplace sellers will be able to use the converted postboxes to post parcels that are pre-paid through Royal Mail’s Click & Drop service and customers will be able to post returns parcels that include a Royal Mail barcode.
More post boxes could be converted, Royal Mail said this week.
“Following the launch we will assess the prospect of adapting and updating pre-existing letterboxes to the parcel postbox format,” it said.
Mark Street, Royal Mail head of campaigns, said: “The wide scale introduction of parcel postboxes is one of the many ways we at Royal Mail are looking to make the lives of our customers easier.
“The parcel postboxes trial last year was a success, and we hope that the wider roll-out gives added flexibility to online sellers who might be running a business in their spare time and not keeping regular office hours.”
Analyst Frank Proud, director of Apex Insight, said Royal Mail could corner the C2X market with its parcel postboxes.
He said: “Royal Mail could be pushing on an open door here.
"Carriers are becoming less interested in C2x as the level of complaints is much higher than B2C, as customers often don’t package or label their parcels properly or get the address wrong so carriers are not as enamoured by this sector as they once were.”
Royal Mail parcel postbox locations
Leeds
Newcastle & Tyneside
Sheffield
Warrington
Swindon
Nottingham
Romford
Manchester
Preston
London Central
Birmingham
Chelmsford
Chester
Greenford
Glasgow
Edinburgh
Bristol
Croydon
Poole
Aberdeen
Southampton
Belfast
Peterborough
Plymouth
Cardiff
Norwich
Swansea
Bournemouth
Exeter
Truro
Inverness
Carlisle
