by Walther Ploos van Amstel
Few logistics questions seem more mundane than where to put a parcel locker. Research papers in Urban Logistics Transformation (Springer, 2026) make a compelling case that this is actually one of the most consequential spatial planning decisions a city can make; touching on equity, emissions, local commerce, and the circular economy all at once. Location …
E-commerce has changed urban logistics fundamentally. Orders are smaller, destinations are more dispersed, and customers expect fast delivery within narrow time windows. The result is familiar in many cities: more vans on the streets, lower vehicle utilisation, and increasing pressure on urban space. In his recent PhD research, Fabio Mercurio explores how delivery companies respond …
The UK parcel delivery market has reached what InPost describes as a tipping point. Rising e-commerce volumes, time-pressured lifestyles, and persistent last-mile inefficiencies have pushed traditional home delivery models to their limits. Consumers report mounting frustration with missed deliveries, theft, delayed parcels, and inconvenient returns. According to InPost’s July 2025 research, more than one-third of …
The four largest Dutch cities are working on a covenant with parcel carriers and e-commerce retailers to gain more control over the rapid growth of parcel lockers and pickup points. Dutch newspaper FD reported this today. The trigger is the explosive increase in parcel lockers while municipalities still lack clear spatial planning policies. At the …
The rapid growth of e-commerce has intensified pressure on urban logistics systems, particularly in the last mile. This segment is both the most expensive and environmentally impactful part of parcel distribution, due to fragmented routes, failed deliveries, and a lack of economies of scale. To mitigate these externalities, parcel lockers (PLs) have emerged as a …
Parcel lockers are rapidly becoming part of the everyday postal landscape, and nowhere is that more evident than in the United Kingdom. Royal Mail and Post Office have announced a partnership to pilot parcel lockers at Post Office branches across the country. Over the next six months, lockers will be installed outside selected stores, allowing …
Europe’s last-mile parcel delivery system is approaching a structural breaking point. Rapid growth in e-commerce, driven by platforms such as Amazon, Temu, and Shein, combined with the expansion of recommerce via players like Vinted and eBay, and return-intensive fashion flows from Zalando, H&M, and ZARA, is overwhelming traditional door-to-door delivery and parcel shop models. As …
Belgium is experiencing a rapid expansion of parcel locker networks, prompting the Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications (BIPT) to launch a public consultation on their future development and regulation. Parcel lockers have grown nearly tenfold in six years: by the end of 2024, Belgium counted 1,684 lockers, up from just over 170 in …
In Poland, parcel lockers are as standard as ATMs. Some 25,000 units cover the country; at supermarkets, between apartment blocks, on busy street corners. Enter a code, the door clicks open, done. InPost, the yellow icon of Polish e-commerce, turned lockers into national infrastructure. CEO Rafal Brzoska already believed in 2009 that home delivery was …
Technological innovations such as parcel lockers are often presented as a solution to the negative impacts of last-mile delivery on people, the planet, and business performance. Yet these benefits will only materialize if consumers actually choose to use them. A recent study applied the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) to better …