World’s first community lockers developed by Parcelsea are being piloted in Estonia

Estonian last mile delivery start-up, Parcelsea is piloting a new innovative concept- Community Lockers, together with Omniva, Estonian national post company.

Why is there a need for a Community Locker?

According to recent global surveys, customers prefer the cheapest and closest delivery method - home delivery. Home deliveries, oftentimes free of cost for e-shoppers, are inefficient for delivery companies due to the low rate of successful first-time deliveries. While post offices and parcel terminals are being actively used by people living in the urban areas, the needs of suburban e-shoppers and delivery companies are not quite met. That’s where community lockers come into play.

Community locker - what’s that?

Community lockers complement existing post offices, pick-up drop-off points, and parcel locker networks, enhancing accessibility and convenience for customers. This synergy allows postal operators to get even closer to their customers, providing efficient and reliable services tailored to modern-day demands.

Community lockers are installed in locations that are in the 300 meters range of 50-100 households and come in 3 sizes, either with 8,16 or 24 sections, based on the specific community needs. Each locker accepts 3 universal package sizes - XS, S and M.

The lockers are easy to use for the customers and couriers, since no additional integrations are needed. And the best part is - all courier companies are able to use the lockers.

Community locker combines the best features of every delivery channel.

Community lockers, like bigger parcel lockers, are in service 24/7 and enable nearly 100% first time delivery success rate for couriers. As community lockers are installed within slipper distance from customers homes, it makes the parcel collection as convenient as home deliveries. Also, the parcel delivery cost for customers is kept similar to bigger parcel lockers, which makes it more affordable than home deliveries.

What benefits do community lockers provide?

The world’s first community locker pilot is aiming to make last mile delivery more convenient for e-shoppers and reduce cost for Omniva, the Estonian national post company.

Firstly, the mailman network with unutilized capacity is being deployed to deliver packages in addition to regular mail. While this approach helps Omniva to keep delivery costs low, the community lockers are open for other couriers, enabling them to improve first time delivery rate.

Secondly, the members of local smaller communities are able to receive, send and return parcel deliveries pretty much right at their doorstep. According to the community locker users, this is a major improvement compared to bigger parcel terminals, which are often located several kilometers away.

The first pilot in cooperation with Omniva, the national post company of Estonia.

Prior to community lockers, Omniva acquired an open personal parcel box network in 2023 to be close to their customer homes. What has happened since? Omniva has been able to increase parcel volume, reduced the cost of deliveries and provided new potential revenue streams. “Parcel delivery and postal services are becoming more personal. The closer we can be to the customer, the better,” commented Mart Mägi, Chairman of Omniva.

“We are very happy with the development of community lockers together with Omniva. Leveraging the existing mailman network is a crucial element to fully optimize last mile delivery channels for a postal operator. We are now working on introducing the community locker solution to different national post companies in Europe to provide optimizations for existing last mile delivery solutions. Furthermore, our solution aims to reduce costs for postal companies that arise from providing postal services in sparsely populated areas. This cost reduction is significant in ensuring sustainable and efficient operations,” commented Tanel Raun, Co-founder and Business Development Manager of Parcelsea.