Parcel locker manufacturer, InPost, reported a 54% year-on-year revenue growth in the first half of 2021 and a 30% revenue growth in the second quarter of 2021. Both growth statistics were partly driven by the acceleration of e-commerce in Poland due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Spearheading the company’s European expansion is Michael Rouse, who was recently appointed to InPost’s management board for four years on September 10. CEO and founder of InPost Rafal Brzoska pointed out how Rouses’s cultivation of a “a fast-paced tech environment” has aided the company’s expansion now “across eight countries in Europe.” Having spent the past year as CEO of InPost International, Rouse led the expansion of InPost business into UK and Italy. Moreover, Rouse was responsible for the integration of Mondial Relay to the overall InPost Group.
Importantly, the increasing popularity of automated parcel machines (APMs) has played a significant role in the company’s recent growth, alongside InPost’s corresponding development of APM network size and density. In Poland, APM parcel volumes increased by 61% year-on-year to 165 million and international parcel volumes increased by 314% year-on-year to 2.9 million.
InPost’s “Green City” program in Poland, where the e-commerce platform has established the “Green City” program in six of the country’s key cities, has also played a key role in this expansion. This program was designed to help reduce air pollution and enhance the well-being of regional communities, through deploying the latest generation of APMs. These new APMs will operate on renewable energy to tackle the final-mile challenge sustainably while promoting the company’s European expansion.
Among these initiatives is the first renewable energy solution for APMs in Poland and InPost also received its first environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) rating from Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS). InPost has been able to accelerate its growth through its app, which is designed to be more convenient for customers and improve the proposition to their stakeholders. The number of “InPost Mobile” app users has increased to seven million.
For the full year, InPost expects parcel volumes to be in the realm of 455-485 million with 445-470 million of that being in Poland, and predicts a revenue YOY growth of 46-52%.
Brzoska noted, “While I expect the short term uncertainties from Covid-19 to continue, I am also certain that the accelerated shift to a digital economy is structural, driving an expanded e-commerce market opportunity, a greater focus on sustainability, and changing consumer preferences.”
