InPost S.A., a fast-growing parcel delivery company based in Poland, has signed a commercial agreement to deploy more than 20,000 Bloq.it smart locker units across Europe and made a small investment in the startup company.
Lisbon, Portugal-based Bloq.it, which is pushing to increase adoption of unattended delivery units in Europe, announced the transaction on Monday.
InPost joins DHL eCommerce; Vinted Go, the logistics arm of online marketplace Vinted; Poste Italiane; and GLS, as Bloq.it customers.
Bloq.it said it installed the first NEXT lockers for InPost in France and the United Kingdom during July, and expects to expand to Italy, Portugal and Spain before the end of the year. Over the next five years, the rollout will accelerate across InPost’s key European markets.
As part of the agreement, Bloq.it will manage and maintain InPost’s automated parcel machine (APM) network.
The Bloq.it NEXT smart lockers rely on swappable rechargeable batteries, which enable them to operate independent of the power grid or solar panels and be installed in thousands of previously inaccessible locations. The lockers feature a 10-inch color screen and barcode/QR readers to enable customer entry.
Established in 2019, Bloq.it also offers a cloud-based operating system that allows lockers from multiple providers to operate on a common digital platform.
“Bloq.it is laser-focused on accelerating Europe’s shift to out-of-home delivery. Partnering with InPost allows us to roll out NeXT, our flagship off-grid locker, wherever people live and work, giving consumers true pick-up freedom,” said Miha Jagodic, founder and CEO of Bloq.it, in a news release.
InPost installed its first automated parcel machine in Kraków in 2009 and the lockers quickly became an integral part of online shopping in Poland, offering guaranteed delivery speed and convenience.
The InPost Group has more than 88,000 out-of-home points, including more than 54,000 APMs and over 34,000 pick-up/drop-off points in nine countries, including Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands). InPost also provides courier and fulfillment services for about 100,000 e-commerce sellers.
Last year, the company handled more than 1 billion parcels. In the first quarter, parcel volume grew 12% year over year to 272 million pieces, according to the company.
In July, InPost announced the acquisition of Spain-based courier Sending. It said at the time that it plans to add 1,000 parcel lockers in Spain by the end of 2025. InPost earlier this year acquired Yodel for $144 million, making it the third-largest independent parcel operator in the UK.
Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.
Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@freightwaves.com.
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