Get used to seeing Amazon parcels piled up on the shelf behind your local Post Office counter, as there is a new Amazon Post Office Click & Collect service that’s being rolled out to 1,500 locations before Christmas.
This is the second deal that the Post Office have signed following the end of their exclusive relationship with Royal Mail that ended after 10 years. The first deal was with DPD in August.
This really is a ground breaking announcement as Amazon, combined with their 3rd party sellers, probably ship more parcels than any other single business in the country. Postmasters will scan Amazon parcels as they arrive (doubtless in many cases delivered to the Post Office by Amazon Logistics) and customers will be able to collect them by displaying a QR code on their smartphones.
The Post Office have around 11,500 branches, so even the expansion of the initial trial from 200 to provide the Amazon Post Offices service at 1,500 branches is still what you might consider a test phase, we don’t think it will be long before it rolls out more widely.
We’re also interested to discover which will be the third partner following the Amazon Post Office deal – We believe that the Post Office have ambitions to become local parcel points where just about any delivery regardless of carrier can be collected. With so many Post Office services moving online, the logical move will be to launch services which see consumers visiting their local branch and ecommerce is undoubtedly the best way to force a physical visit. This is especially true as workers return to offices and are less likely to be sat at home when a delivery takes place and it’s worth noting that Post Offices are generally located closer to the community than a carrier’s local depot making collection much more convenient at a time and day of the consumer’s choice.
“Following the successful trial in 200 branches, Post Office has agreed with Amazon to provide direct click-and-collect services to over 1,000 branches in time for Christmas.
This is in addition to Amazon’s continued use of Royal Mail’s Local Collect service and provides new opportunities for postmasters, in addition to those with DPD, as the network is opened to new partners to complement our long-term partnership with Royal Mail”.
– Post Office spokesperson
