Delivery companies PostNL and PostNord have expanded their parcel locker trials in a bid to support ecommerce growth.
PostNL has just introduced an additional six parcel and letter machines in the Dutch city of Tilburg, bringing the total up to 20.
The change has also seen the carrier change the colour of several of the machines from orange to grey in an effort to reduce their visual impact.
It has also moved some of them to more suitable locations, in consultation with Tilberg authorities.
PostNL has been trialling the machines since 2016, with the specific Tilberg trial launching in 2017. They allow consumers to both send and receive parcels.
Mario Jacobs, part of the city authorities, said that the package market is growing by 20% per year, which is “a social trend that we cannot ignore”.
Jean-Luc Otten, business development manager at PostNL, said: “Consumers are increasingly shopping online. They receive and send more and more packages and want to do that wherever and whenever it suits them.”
Meanwhile, PostNord has extended its own trial of a similar technology in Denmark.
The company has added an additional 40 lockers in Sonderborg alongside the 200 it already had in Kolding.
This is a pilot project, which PostNord eventually hopes to extend to 10,000 across the country.
Royal Mail launched a similar scheme in the UK last August, allowing users to send parcels without having to register.
