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07.10.2021
As the popularity of e-commerce among the population is growing and the number of items sent via parcel lockers is increasing significantly, Latvijas Pasts has installed the first automated parcel locker or parcel tower in Latvia in one of the busiest parcel locker network points in Pļavnieki, Riga. It has space to store a substantially larger number of items simultaneously, which means that customers will be able to receive their items faster than before. In addition, it is more environmentally friendly, as it occupies a very small area, but offers a considerably higher capacity.
Developing various item delivery solutions in accordance with today’s consumption habits of customers, Latvijas Pasts has supplemented its parcel locker network with the first parcel tower in Latvia: an efficient and modern parcel delivery machine. Latvijas Pasts parcel tower with the automated item delivery function is the most efficient item servicing solution currently operating in Latvia.
The five-metre-high tower is not only spacious, but also very compact, conserving environmental resources. The installation of the parcel tower requires only 5.4 sq m, but it can store up to 500 items at a time. When using the parcel tower, the customers will no longer be faced with the challenge of figuring out which parcel locker door has opened: all items can be collected right near the touch screen, thus providing a convenient experience and transparency.
The parcel tower will be available to customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and initially it will only be used to deliver items, eventually activating the sending function too.
Commenting on the development projects of Latvijas Pasts parcel locker network, Tālis Linkaits, Minister of Transport of the Republic of Latvia, points out: “The global trends and the pandemic have contributed to a rapid growth of the postal sector not only in the world, but also in Latvia; therefore, Latvijas Pasts, as the leading communications and logistics company in the country, must be able to keep up with the times and offer solutions that are convenient and accessible to customers,” and expresses hope that the parcel tower opened today is the first step towards the further development and expansion of such innovative forms of postal services.
In turn, Mārcis Vilcāns, Chairman of the Board of Latvijas Pasts, admits: “Along with the current worldwide trends in the postal industry and the global technological revolution, Latvijas Pasts has been undergoing a significant change in recent years: the demand for traditional postal services is declining, but simultaneously the segment of modern postal services is growing substantially – as the volume of online commerce rises, we increasingly opt out of buying goods in the store, but buy them virtually. At the same time, what is still not a virtual online phenomenon, but an offline reality, is the physical delivery of these items: more and more items need to be delivered to customers in ever shorter deadlines and in an increasingly diverse, customer-friendly way. As a result, not only the international logistics of items is becoming ever more important, but also convenient and local solutions for the delivery of items, adapting to the new daily routine of customers.”
The first parcel tower in Latvia has been installed in one of the most densely populated neighbourhoods of Riga and one the busiest points of Latvijas Pasts parcel locker network: in Pļavnieki, next to Rimi store at 23a A. Saharova Street. The new solution will help ensure faster delivery of items to customers who want to receive the goods purchased in online stores through a parcel locker, as well as reduce the flow of customers to the nearby post office No. 82, from which it will be possible to redirect some items for collection from the parcel locker.
In the future Latvijas Pasts is considering the implementation of such a solution in other neighbourhoods of Riga, which are overloaded in terms of item delivery, but only after it will be possible to assess the long-term benefits of the parcel tower, as the parcel tower project is more complicated from the point of view of obtaining approvals and infrastructure construction.
The parcel tower was designed by the Estonian start-up Cleveron, and its operation is based on cloud software that can be easily integrated with other systems. Investment in the purchase and installation of the parcel tower amounts to less than EUR 66,000.
The installation of the innovative parcel tower is one of the steps of the targeted modernisation of Latvijas Pasts, along with novelties such as a modern and convenient tool for customs clearance of items by customers and a fully automated item sorting line operated by artificial intelligence. It is planned that the targeted development will also continue in the future.
About SJSC Latvijas Pasts
Latvijas Pasts ensures the widest availability of postal services throughout Latvia by maintaining more than 600 post offices. The primary function of the company is provision of the universal postal service; Latvijas Pasts also provides commercial transport, express mail, payment, press subscription, retail and philatelic services. Latvijas Pasts is a wholly State-owned company with around 3,200 employees. The quality measurements of Latvijas Pasts domestic mail deliveries are regularly conducted by Kantar TNS, one of the leading market, social and media research agencies in Latvia. In turn, the quality measurements of the cross-border deliveries are provided within the framework of the International Post Corporation through the intermediary of the research companies Kantar TNS, Ipsos and Quotas.
Additional information:
Gundega Vārpa | Head of External Communications
E-mail: pr@pasts.lv; gundega.varpa@pasts.lv
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