Pickup points, lockers or the front door

Out-of-home delivery, to a shop counter or a locker, is the default for a large share of European shoppers and a minority choice for others. The options a brand offers at checkout decide the cost of a parcel, how often it fails, and how easily it comes back.

The three options

Most shoppers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland still choose home delivery, and it is the default for a parcel when no other option is offered. It is the most convenient when someone is in, and the option most exposed to failed attempts when nobody is. A pickup point is a shop counter, a newsagent or a petrol station that holds parcels for collection; the network delivers many parcels to one address in one stop, which is why it is usually cheaper. A locker is an automated cabinet that the shopper opens with a code; it is open long hours, and in Poland and the Baltic states it is the expected way to receive an online order.

Cost and failure by option

Delivering twenty parcels to one counter costs a network less than twenty doorsteps, and the price usually reflects it. A pickup-point or locker delivery also removes most failed attempts, because the destination is open when the carrier arrives. The trade-off is the collection window: a point holds a parcel for a set number of days, commonly between a few days and two weeks depending on the network, and returns it to sender when the time runs out.

Twenty parcels to one counter cost less than twenty doorsteps, and none of them fail for lack of someone at home.

Choosing per country

Offer the option each market already uses. Where lockers are the norm, a checkout without one looks foreign. Where home delivery is the norm, a pickup option is a cheaper alternative for the shoppers who want it. A good default is the option the market expects, with the other one or two available, and a price difference that reflects the cost difference.

The return leg

The same networks take returns. A shopper drops the parcel at a point or a locker with a code or a printed label, and the network carries it back. Shoppers return through the points they already know, and that is cheaper to run than collections from home.

Pickup points and lockers on our rates

On our rates in France and the United Kingdom, pickup-point, drop-off point and locker services sit alongside home delivery, each quoted per lane at carrier cost with zero markup, and the same services are available through the carrier integrations on your own accounts. On a Shopify store, the checkout lets the shopper choose the pickup point. The rule you set at label time picks the service for each order, and you can see which rate won and why. Whichever option a shopper chose, they follow it on one tracking page on your domain, and the return reads against the same item identity as the outbound parcel, so the warehouse knows which item is coming back before the box is opened. Outside France and the UK, the same works on your own carrier accounts.