UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s and Royal Mail have announced a partnership that will see the postal operator’s lockers rolled out at Sainsbury’s stores across the UK.
There are lockers available at six Sainsbury’s stores already, with more planned in the coming months, offering customers a convenient way to send and receive small e-commerce parcels.
The smart lockers also feature label printing, meaning customers can pay for postage online and print the label by scanning a QR code at the locker or request a QR code if they are returning a purchase.
Jack Clarkson, group strategy and transformation director at Royal Mail, said, “Partnering with a retailer with the scale and popularity of Sainsbury’s is great news for our customers and the UK public, who will now have even more ways to drop off and collect their parcels in convenient locations.
“Due to the relentless growth in online shopping and secondhand marketplaces, there is increased demand from our customers for more parcel drop off and collection points. To meet our goal of making sending and receiving parcels as easy as possible, we must considerably expand our network. This is the start of an exciting partnership with Sainsbury’s that will help us to meet that goal at pace.”
The partnership is part of Royal Mail’s widely expanding network of lockers and other drop-off and collection points. Royal Mail now has more than 22,000 locations where customers can drop off and collect parcels, including 1,500 lockers, 7,000 Collect+ stores, 11,500 Post Office branches, 1,200 Royal Mail Customer Service Points and 1,200 parcel postboxes. Customers can also drop off parcels small enough to fit in a postbox and use the app to request proof of postage.
