A parcel locker which is also named as automated locker, smart locker, smart/ intelligent box, delivery box, and (shared) reception box is an automated postal box that allows users for a self-service collection of parcels and oversize letters as well as the dispatch of parcels.
PLs are fixed self-collection points without staff, equipped with smart locks, conveniently located, and accessible 24/7 for easy self-collection. It typically includes several sections, each intended for one user to receive a single delivery. Once the packages reach the PLs, users receive a notification via text message containing a pickup code. Afterwards, they have the option to retrieve the packages using the code whenever it suits them. Therefore, the impact of failed deliveries is mostly reduced.
History The modern automated parcel locker was born out of a partnership formed in 2000 between the German postal operator, Deutsche Post, and the Austrian automation firm, KEBA. In the late 1990s, as early e-commerce began to rise, Deutsche Post was searching for a sustainable way to handle growing package volumes and reduce expensive, failed home delivery attempts. They approached KEBA, a company that already possessed specialized, global expertise in automating bank safe deposit boxes. Merging KEBA’s security hardware with Deutsche Post’s logistics framework, the two companies developed the world’s first automated electronic parcel locker, building the prototype in a small workshop in Linz, Austria. In late 2001, Deutsche Post launched the system as a pilot project in Dortmund and Mainz under the brand name "Packstation." Operating under KEBA's "KePol" manufacturing line, this milestone laid the structural foundation for the global smart locker industry that followed.
Amazon Locker
Amazon Locker is a self-service package delivery service of parcel lockers offered by online retailer Amazon. Amazon customers can select any Locker location as their delivery address and retrieve their orders at that location by entering a unique pick-up code on the Locker touch screen. However, certain third-party sellers on Amazon may not be able to ship to an Amazon Locker, due to their use of other shipping services such as FedEx or UPS that require a signature. There are several sizes, but when ordering, amazon.com reports some parcels are too big to be delivered to a locker.
The Amazon Locker program was launched in September 2011 in New York City, Seattle, and London. As of June 2018, Lockers were available in over 2,800 locations in 70+ cities.
Operation
A customer orders a parcel from Amazon and has it delivered to a Locker location. Amazon's preferred carriers deliver to the locker, and the customer receives a digital pick-up code via email or text messaging. Once the unique pick-up code is entered into the locker's touch screen, the assigned door opens for package retrieval. Amazon customers have three days to collect their packages once they receive their pick-up code.
Amazon customers can also return packages to select Amazon Lockers. Amazon Lockers can sometimes be full and therefore not available when a delivery is attempted. In that case customers will have to wait an unspecified amount of time until space is available.
Locker locations Amazon partners with retail stores such as 7-Eleven and Spar to host Amazon Locker kiosks. Retailers receive a stipend from Amazon to host the kiosks. Staples and RadioShack joined the program briefly in 2012, only to withdraw the following year.
7-Eleven has kiosks in 186 locations in the US as of 2015.
In the United Kingdom, Amazon has a partnership with Co-op Food and Morrisons. Lockers are located within some Co-op and Morrisons stores. Since 2012, libraries in West Sussex have also been operating Lockers. Large retail centres often have Amazon Lockers, for example there are two in One New Change in London, and there is one in Stratford Centre. The largest Amazon Locker in the world and the busiest in the UK is called Ivory. It has 115 lockers and is located near the Rootes building at the University of Warwick.
Amazon has also expanded the Locker program in Canada, France, Spain, Germany and Italy.
In 2017, Amazon announced plans to launch Amazon Locker in select Whole Foods Market locations.
Amazon Hub Amazon Hub is a delivery locker for apartment lobbies. The delivery locker accepts packages from all carriers. Amazon Hub was in beta from 2017 until June 2018, when Amazon announced that its Hub program would be available to all property management companies throughout the United States.
As of 2020, Amazon was using "Amazon Hub Locker+" to refer to a staffed version of Amazon Lockers, which allowed for customers to pick up large packages, and for customers to return items without a box.
Pharmaceutical lockers
Several manufacturersQuickCollect Rx Pharmacy Kiosk SystemAsteres' ScriptCenter Locker Prescription pickups surpass 3M markPharmacy Lockers - Click and Collect Service offer parcel lockers designed for pickup of drugs, either at pharmacies or in remote locations. One design as an integrated audio-visual connection for conferring with a pharmacist.Prescription Pick-Up Locker Drug pickup lockers are deployed at some Costco pharmaciesCostco Rx Locker Prescription Pickup and have been piloted at CVS Health.Pharmacy Locker Pilot Video A shortage of pharmacists in the 2020s increased pressure to adopt this solution.VERIFY | Will we start seeing prescription lockers at some CVS pharmacies? Though delivery of prescription drugs by mail is common, some jurisdictions (for example the U.S. state of Georgia) have laws which do not allow the use of unattended lockers.
Systems around the world
Asia Yamato Transport, Amazon Japan, Japan Post Holdings, Sagawa Express, and DHL Japan have deployed parcel-locker networks in Japan. Yamato Transport had approximately 4,300 locker locations in major cities by June 2019. In 2016, unsuccessful home deliveries accounted for approximately 20% of Yamato Transport's deliveries, prompting the company to expand parcel-locker services.
In Thailand, WashBox24 has launched smart cabinets in 2013 and now has about 100 smart lockers in 2017 and planned to cooperate with Thai Post to increase the number of smart lockers to 3000. InPost had launched the parcel locker solution in Malaysia since 2015, with 30 lockers in Klang Valley. The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) launched the first successful trial in 2018 then worked with 18 companies to deploy 62 locker stations and delivery around 200000 parcels daily in Singapore.
Cainiao Station and Hive Box, two nationwide last-mile delivery service providers in China. Hive box only, among other competitors, operates more than 150 thousand parcel lockers with 12 million boxes in communities/business-buildings/schools/ government-units, located in more than 100 cities, and delivers more than 9 million parcels per day. Besides that, Cainiao network by Alibaba group has established more than 30,000 community-based SPLs and more than 1900 college-based SPLs to date, covering more than 280 cities across China. It was predicted that SPLs would develop further and play a more prominent role in the provision of services. A survey by Youth News (2021) reveals that 83.7% of urban customers in China are dissatisfied with the current urban last-mile delivery system where most parcels are delivered to parcel lockers.
Bangladesh In Bangladesh, a partnership between ekpay of A2I and Daraz created ekShop-Digibox Parcel locker. The manufacturing of the solution was done completely within Bangladesh and said to be much cheaper than western or Chinese solutions. The lockers were situated at the metro stations for ease of access.
Australia and Oceania Australia Post offers a similar service with facilities located in or near various post offices. In 2014, Australia Post started to launch a parcel locker system together with MyPost Deliveries. In May 2020, Australia Post and their partnership, InPost, had over 400 parcel locker stations.
United Arab Emirates A courier company called Parzel Express introduced automated delivery machines in United Arab Emirates in 2011 manufactured by KEBA.
Europe
Germany
Packstation is a service of parcel lockers run by DHL Parcel Germany, a business unit of Deutsche Post's Mail division, in Germany and elsewhere (e.g. in Italy). It provides automated booths for a self-service collection of parcels and oversize letters as well as self-service dispatch of parcels 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Packstation started as a pilot project in 2001 and was quickly expanded. In 2025 there were more than 15,500 Packstation machines in Germany and 90 percent of the people living in Germany were within ten minutes of a DHL Packstation. Only ordinary parcels and letters delivered by Deutsche Post can be delivered to Packstations. Moreover, Deutsche Post allows its subsidiary DHL Express Germany to insert a limited number of express parcels. Packstations were originally manufactured by the Austrian company KEBA with newer stations developed by DHL Paket in conjunction with Polygon.
A major market for Packstation is the increasing number of single people, especially students and time-poor professionals, who purchase products online but are not normally at home at daytime to accept deliveries, or who do not have the time to deposit parcels at the post office during normal opening hours. As of September 2023 there were over 23 million registered Packstation customers in Germany according to Deutsche Post.
Using Packstations is free of charge both for private and business customers; however, prior registration through the web portal Paket.de is required for collection of parcels.
Each customer obtains a magnetic stripe card ("Goldcard") and PIN that can be used to identify the customer at Packstation machines and post offices. Previously, it was possible to use the Packstation by entering the customer number and the PIN. This was changed in 2011 in order to increase security as said by DHL, usage of the Goldcard was mandatory afterwards. On 29 October 2012, a mandatory mTAN was introduced, this is transmitted solely in the SMS notification or can be retrieved from the DHL Paket App. Each mTAN is valid only for one opening procedure (which may entitle to open several booths if the recipient has received numerous shipments), thereby replacing the PIN. Newer Packsations can communicate with the user's mobile phone via Bluetooth if the DHL App is available on the phone. A PIN or TAN is then no longer necessary.
Austria Austria's Österreichische Post introduced a virtually identical service called Post.24-Station in November 2006. The booths are manufactured by the same company that makes the packstations, KEBA. In Vienna, Stations have been erected in supermarkets, petrol stations, and post offices that can easily be reached by public transport.
Ireland In the Republic of Ireland, ParcelMotel is owned by the Nightline courier company. ParcelMotel has operated since 2012 and had 124 locations providing over 10,000 locker spaces throughout the Republic of Ireland. All locations were closed on January 31, 2023. ParcelMotel also offered a UK address for parcel delivery which allowed customers in Ireland to take advantage of free UK delivery. They also offered free/business paid return services, motel-to-motel delivery at special rates and a parcel sending service.
Finland