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What does the report contain?
- This report gives a detailed view of the historical and forecast development of parcel shop and locker networks
- It includes sections looking at strategies of the main network operators, profiling locker manufacturers and the development of eight of the leading markets (France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the UK).
- It quantifies the market size and sets out credible forecast scenarios supported by clearly stated assumptions.
- We also carry out an in-depth analysis of the relevant drivers of growth in particular home shopping setting out historical changes and available forecasts.
- Purchasing the report entitles you to have a follow-up conference call with the Apex Insight team to discuss findings and go through any questions you may have on areas such as report methodology, definitions, inputs to our forecast model and alternative scenarios.
Why is it important?
- Parcel shops and locker networks are quickly being rolled out across Europe.
- They are rapidly becoming an essential component of the logistics operations involved in getting internet purchases into the hands of consumers, while also remaining a key element of spare parts logistics operations.
- Those building networks frequently advocate them as the best solutions for long-standing problems such as the last mile and returns.
- Across the whole logistics industry they are one of the fastest-growing areas and appear likely to remain so in the future.
- This report aims to explore what is happening in the market now, what factors are driving it and provide a view on how it is likely to develop in the future.
Who is it intended for?
- Operators of parcel shop and locker network businesses themselves
- Parcels carriers
- Home shopping / internet retailers
- Investors in these businesses
- Market regulators and policymakers
- Banks, analysts, consultants and other parties with interests in the sector
Changes since the previous version
This report has been updated and extended since the previous edition in mid-2014. Significant additions and changes include the following:-
- Updating of market size/growth estimates and all other figures in the report.
- All company financials, economic statistics and other figures have been updated to include the latest data. In particular, figures relating to drivers of the market have been updated and our market size and growth estimates re-worked and revised accordingly.
- Our ongoing work on the parcels industry has also allowed us to improve our market estimates in particular by incorporating findings from site visits and interviews we carried out with parcel shops across Europe. This work has given us a better understanding of how the capacities, current volumes and processes vary across different chains and countries.
- -The findings from this work have been incorporated in our market model. .
- Separate sections on the Netherlands and Belgium to replace Benelux' chapter.
What are the sources and methodology?
This report is based on:
- Interviews with senior-level contacts in the parcels and home shopping industries
- Interviews with parcel shop owners and operators
- Extensive research into published industry sources
- In-depth analysis of the macroeconomic environment and relevant market drivers
- Financial analysis of the accounts of companies in the industry
Information from these sources has been synthesised and presented clearly and concisely with extensive use of charts and tables to illuminate points and support conclusions
Market forecasts have been constructed using simple assumptions which are clearly stated. Supporting evidence is provided for our assumptions but readers can easily flex them to model alternative scenarios.
Summary
Market background
- This report focuses on networks of locations to facilitate last mile delivery of parcels to consumers and business consignees.
- Networks are now being rolled-out across Europe. Most people are now within a short travel time of one or more such locations.
The sites may be:
- Parcel shops, which are staffed outlets, most commonly found convenience stores or other shops with long opening hours
- Secure locker banks, generally found in places which are accessible from early until late and are able to provide an adequate level of security, such as railway stations, supermarket car parks and petrol station forecourts.
The networks have the potential to offer benefits to a range of different parties including consumers, parcel carriers, internet retailers, field service companies and site hosts by providing a combination of increased convenience and lower costs. In particular they:
- Improve the economics of typical parcels operations by increasing consolidation.
- Improve the success rate of consumer deliveries and hence satisfaction levels.
- Reduce time lost by field engineers travelling to the depot for spare parts.
- Provide additional footfall and hence revenue for the host locations.
Locations and market drivers
By far the largest number of locations is currently in Germany.
- Of the other countries, France and the UK both have extensive networks with Belgium and the Netherlands given their smaller size, also being well-served.
- Southern and Eastern European countries have far fewer sites
The most important driver of demand for locations is the level of business-to-consumer parcels generated by home shopping.
- Home shopping has grown in all countries covered by this report in recent years having more than doubled overall in the last five years.
During this period, the number of post offices has fallen. In some countries there are now more parcel shops than post offices. In several countries there has been convergence between post offices and parcel shops with the traditional standalone post office becoming much less common in Germany, the UK and elsewhere.
Competitive landscape
Many of the leading European parcel carriers, in particular those with a focus on consumer deliveries, are now involved in building up their own networks.
- The most extensive network is that of Otto, which owns the Hermes and Mondial Relay networks, followed by DPD, DHL and UPS.
- There are also independent players, of which the largest since the acquisition of Kiala by UPS is InPost
Outlook
We expect growth in demand for parcel shops and lockers to continue to be driven primarily by the growth of internet retail. In particular, the growth of Click-and-Collect' type models which allow consumers to select a parcel shop or locker as an alternative to delivery to the home, could well lead to growth being faster than that of overall internet retail sales.
Supply factors are also important with networks currently being rolled out at pace to provide further capacity.
Key challenges in achieving further growth include:
- Acceptance of the concept by the mass of consumers, not just current early-adopters
- Availability of sufficient sites for more lockers and, in particular, parcel shops.
- Availability of sufficient capacity at the sites to cope with anticipated growth in demand.