The buzz surrounding parcel locker systems is heating up, with a company led by entrepreneur Mark Bouris now securing two key partnerships in its attempt to roll out the lockers after it failed to win a contract with Australia Post.
It’s a timely expansion. More businesses are becoming fed up with the huge number of personal parcels being sent through their corporate mail rooms, as employees are choosing to receive products at work rather than home.
For many businesses, including Telstra, it’s become such a big problem that managers are cracking down on the practice.
“We use the mail room predominantly for business purposes, and if we identify people abusing the system we just make sure they know what our policy is,” a spokesperson told SmartCompany.
“We’re updating our acceptable use policy to make sure employees know what they should be using the mail room for.”
Fairfax has also reported other businesses, including NAB, have started limiting the number of parcels being sent through the mail room.
“At least 60% of all courier items currently received are not work-related, which equates to around 50 pieces of mail each day,” the head of the company’s wealth division reportedly told staff in an email.
“This is unacceptable and I ask that all future personal items are directed to your home address.”
This overflow is exactly why Telstra says it will welcome any chance to ease its parcel burdens.
“We understand the difficulties of having to receive packages, so we’d welcome anything that will make it easier,” the spokesperson said.
The situation in the company mail room bodes well for TZ. This morning it announced two new agreements with eCommerce logistics and delivery companies Temando and ParcelPoint to help roll out its parcel locker strategy.
Executive chairman Mark Bouris, who stepped in to lead the company after it lost the Australia Post contract, says the partnerships are the “first of several enabling partnerships we are pursuing”.
“Last mile fulfilment is a cause of frustration for carriers, retailers and consumers and ParcelPoint is at the forefront of building solutions to address this issue. As we rollout our network of more convenient parcel pick-up locations, we see that lockers will form a key part of our proposition.”
TZ isn’t the only company which has spotted the opportunity. Last month Toll announced a partnership that will allow consumers to pick up products from Victorian newsagents.
Australia Post is also working on its own parcel locker strategy. The idea has become more popular as “failed delivery” becomes more commonplace – workers simply aren’t at home to receive parcels during business hours and have to wait until the weekend, clogging up post office mail rooms.
