Amazon debuts Post Office pick-up service in new deal with Royal Mail
Shoppers will soon be able to collect products ordered on Amazon at their local Post Office branch in a new deal announced today by the online retail giant and the Royal Mail.
Amazon said it has signed up Royal Mail’s Local Collect service, giving its customers the option of collecting goods from any one of the Post Office’s 10,500 branches and expanding its network of pick-up points to more than 16,000 across the UK.
It already offers the service through its Amazon lockers, Pass My Parcel – a tie-up with newspaper distributor Smiths News – and hundreds of Collect+ stores.
Retailers have been quick to tap into soaring demand for click-and-collect, which can be more convenient for time-poor consumers than waiting at home for a delivery.
Amazon, which is launching thousands of offers on its website this week as part of the Black Friday sales bonanza brought over from the US, said its click-and-collect orders have more than tripled in the last year.
“Pickup Locations have become the delivery method of choice for many shoppers. Offering the collection of packages from Post Offices is another great way of providing our customers with the highest levels of convenience,” Amazon’s UK managing director Christopher North said.
Local Collect is one of various initiatives launched by the Royal Mail to tap into booming online shopping market and fend off growing competition from rivals. The group warned only last week that its parcels business was suffering due to Amazon setting up its own delivery network.
The recently-listed company is piloting is trialling Sunday afternoon opening at around 100 delivery offices across the UK and some Sunday delivery services to addresses within the M25 area.
Nick Landon, managing director of Royal Mail Parcels, said: “Royal Mail is a key partner for online retailers and by teaming up with Post Office to offer the UK’s largest click and collect service, we are enabling Amazon’s customers to have greater control over the delivery of their items.”