Pickup points for eCommerce orders are a rising trend especially in Italy, one of the countries that in recent years has seen a greater development of Locker networks, the lockers available 24/7 for the pickup of goods purchased online and documents.
According to the numbers reported in the “Document on measures to encourage the use of automated lockers for parcel delivery and collection” prepared by the Communications Guarantee Authority (AGCOM), in fact, the number of Lockers throughout the country is 2,500. Of these, however, most are located in the larger metropolitan areas, which is why it is essential to encourage their use in provincial and suburban areas as well (where currently only one Locker is available for every 32,000 inhabitants, according to AGCOM estimates).
Limitations to Locker deployment
Among the main problems noted by the Authority in the diffusion of automatic lockers for the collection and delivery of goods are:
1.Low propensity to use them among online shoppers who instead continue to prefer home delivery;
2. Low interest on the part of retailers in offering lockers as a delivery option;
3. Insufficient nationwide coverage;
4. High installation costs;
5. Lack of nationwide uniformity of regulatory provisions governing the procedures and timeframes for obtaining the necessary permits to operate the business;
6. Need for space to install the lockers.
Toward zero-emission urban logistics
“The widespread use of Lockers,” reads the AGCOM Report, “represents a benefit for the community, not only because of the benefits it brings to consumers (e.g., greater flexibility of delivery), but also because it allows for a better management of urban mobility and results in a smaller ecological footprint.
Indeed, recall that freight traffic in urban areas contributes between 20 and 30 percent of air pollution, and alternative delivery solutions to the more traditional home delivery are key to ensuring a reduction in the environmental impacts of freight transport, as set out in the European Commission’s White Paper on Transport, which sets the goal of achieving zero-carbon urban logistics by 2030.
So what measures can be taken to incentivize the presence and use of Lockers throughout the country?
5 solutions to incentivize the use of lockers
There are five main recommendations addressed to the government by AGCOM to incentivize and facilitate the use of Lockers (Annex A to Resolution No. 117/21/CONS):
1. Harmonize existing regulations for the installation of Locker infrastructure by simplifying the installation process and making the whole procedure faster;
2. Disseminate Guidelines aimed at guiding Local Governments towards the adoption of simpler and more uniform licensing procedures;
3. Encourage the use of existing resources by recovering, for example, disused areas and infrastructures located in the territory to be used as eCommerce order pickup points;
4. Establish of a favorable regulatory and administrative regime for open networks;
5. Uniform technical standards so as to ensure interoperability between the management systems of all operators involved (Locker network operators, delivery operators and retailers).
If you are an eCommerce operator and want to integrate pickup points making you more sustainable, contact us.
