Three grocers in Estonia have deployed the Cleveron 501 robot to hand over online orders to customers.

Coop Estonia, Selver and Prisma have installed units in their parking lots in Tallinn. Customers place online orders, select a pick-up time, receive an order code and then receive their shopping when they enter their PIN code.

Demand for online shopping has surged due to the COVID-19 pandemic and research suggests habits may not return to the pre-pandemic ways.

Continue reading Cleveron hands over online grocery orders at Parcel and Postal Technology International.

Finnish postal service provider Posti will install new mail sorting machines later this year, after plans were delayed due to COVID-19.

The new sorting machines will be located in Oulu, which will receive one machine, and in Helsinki, which will receive two machines. They will be installed in the third quarter of this year or the first quarter of 2021 at the latest.

Posti also plans to install new sorting machines in Tampere and Kuopio at a later date.

Continue reading Posti to install new mail sorting machines this autumn at Parcel and Postal Technology International.

JD has opened the first automated storage and retrieval system for bulky items in Asia’s e-commerce market.

Located in Langfang, Hebei province, China, and open in time for the 618 shopping event, the system processes items including furniture and home appliances three times more efficiently than traditional warehouses.

The system has rows of steel shelves and 10 stacker systems traveling freely among shelves for storage, inbound and picking.

Stackers are 22m high and there are tens of thousands of pallet positions and a high density pallet storage system.

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Amazon will expand its aircraft fleet by leasing 12 Boeing 767-300 converted freighters from Air Transport Services Group (ATSG).

One aircraft has already joined the fleet and the other 11 will be delivered in 2021, pushing Amazon’s fleet to over 80 aircraft.

The online retail giant’s expansion comes as deliveries boom due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Amazon has been transporting PPE for Amazon associates, frontline health workers and relief organizations, and maintaining capacity for regular operations.

Continue reading Amazon Air to add 12 more aircraft to fleet at Parcel and Postal Technology International.

DX Express has rolled out 1,100 new handheld devices across its 31 service centers in the UK.

The roll-out is part of DX Group’s development strategy, with more product launches and service enhancements planned for coming months.

DX tells Parcel and Postal Technology International that the developments will focus on B2C deliveries and the technology will support this sector but could not give more specific information about timing apart from saying it would be within the next few months.

Continue reading DX rolls out handheld devices at Parcel and Postal Technology International.

Emirates Post has restarted mail, packet and parcel services to Pakistan, one of its key South Asian markets.

All services covering economy mail, standard mail, registered mail, standard packets, standard parcels and express parcels are available with immediate effect.

They can be sent to the main commercial centers in Karachi and Lahore, and other strategic regions including Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad and Quetta.

Emirates Post will use airfreight capacity to move shipments to Pakistan and use Pakistan Post’s network to make the delivery.

Continue reading Emirates Post restarts Pakistani services at Parcel and Postal Technology International.

Recipe box company Gousto has renewed its partnership with Yodel to meet demand for home food deliveries.

Online grocery shopping has been booming as consumers have stayed at home, and Yodel has been handling 200,000 food deliveries a week.

Gousto customers will benefit from Yodel’s Xpect service with regular updates on their delivery, including a two-hour window on the morning of the delivery.

Jamie Clark, supply chain director, Gousto, said, “As more and more people show appetite for getting fresh ingredients delivered to their door, we’re looking forward to building on our long-term partnership with Yodel to get delicious recipes direct to the customer’s doorstep.”

Continue reading Gousto renews partnership with Yodel at Parcel and Postal Technology International.

Hermes UK has introduced MyPlaces to support contactless delivery and improve deliveries for people that are not in.

Customers can choose a preferred safe place at their home address and upload a picture to guide the courier.

Information can be amended at any time and a note added to provide clarity and real-time communication.

Features to be rolled out later this year include using What3Words to set an exact location, adding PIN codes to access property, and setting a preferred ParcelShop & Locker location.

Continue reading Hermes supports contactless delivery with MyPlaces at Parcel and Postal Technology International.

Royal Mail has been delivering personal protective equipment (PPE) to key workers in care homes and across the NHS for the UK government.

The post has been working with partners at the Ministry of Defence, eBay and Clipper Logistics to support the government initiative to deliver PPE to frontline workers.

Hundreds of deliveries have been made to care homes, and postmen and postwomen have been ensuring staff at the homes can maintain social distancing when accepting packages.

Continue reading Royal Mail delivers PPE to health workers at Parcel and Postal Technology International.

Nuro is deploying its autonomous vehicles to deliver prescriptions for CVS Pharmacy across three zip codes in Houston, Texas.

Customers in the pilot area can place prescription orders along with non-prescription items on the CVS website or app.

If the autonomous delivery option is selected, one of Nuro’s Toyota Priuses will deliver the order to the curbside at the customers address within three hours.

Customers will need to confirm their identity to unlock the delivery when the autonomous vehicle arrives at the curbside.

Continue reading Nuro delivers prescriptions for CVS at Parcel and Postal Technology International.