UPS Adds Locker Locations for Shipment Pickups
June 30 2016 - 2:20PM
Dow Jones News
United Parcel Service Inc. is rolling out 300 new locker pickup
locations nationwide after what it says was a successful test of
nine locations in Chicago.
The lockers are part of a broader effort by the delivery company
to both lower the costs of delivering e-commerce packages, as well
as to meet changing consumer demands as online shopping booms.
"What we've found is that consumers do like the 24/7 access,"
said Kalin Robinson, director of the locker program. The lockers
also help prevent package theft.
The locker build out, which began in June and will initially be
available in five states, is considered a supplement to the
company's already existing Access Point program, where UPS pays
local merchants a small fee to act as a package pickup
location.
Customers who use UPS's My Choice app can direct their packages
to the lockers, which will be placed outside 7-Eleven Inc. stores
as well as independently owned and operated retail locations.
UPS has struggled in recent years to balance the booming
business of e-commerce, which is inherently higher cost than the
delivery company's traditional business-to-business deliveries.
Drivers now have to drive farther to deliver packages spaced out in
a neighborhood. Missed delivery attempts are more costly.
As a result, UPS has introduced measures including its Orion
route-planning software, Access Point locations to pool deliveries
and other initiatives to cut costs. The company also raised prices
on oversize and other expensive deliveries.
UPS now has 8,000 Access Point locations at local businesses in
the U.S. and more than 24,000 locations world-wide. Lockers will
initially be available in Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania,
Virginia and Washington.
Write to Laura Stevens at laura.stevens@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 30, 2016 14:05 ET (18:05 GMT)
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