3 listopada, 2024

Perfecting PUDO & Parcel Locker Networks

Photo credit: InPost 

The definitive and independent guide from Last Mile Experts


E-commerce and, increasingly importantly, re-commerce are growing fast, and the success of any last mile carrier now hinges on being able to develop commercially tenable and customer centric out of home (OOH) operations due to their cost, operational efficiency (lack of alternative methods to offer tenable capacity) as well as their green last mile benefits. This is a big deal and markets without developed OOH capability such as North and South America have suffered at peak times due to lack of labour and operational capacity. Clients regularly ask about how to choose the right smart locker for their business. 

Accordingly Last Mile Experts has created a series of four white papers covering key areas to look at: 

  • Selecting the right hardware 
  • Selecting the right software 
  • Creating the right network 
  • Perfecting your PUDO 

This document aims to cover all the key elements you need to look at to set up an optimal network.  

Further white papers, covering the other three above mentioned areas, will give you a holistic picture of how to create the right OOH network for your business giving TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) savings, a better CX (Customer Experience) and products and scalable processes that will work…we know, because we’ve helped dozens of companies get this right. In fact, our team have managed from scratch or helped to develop successful OOH networks, throughout the globe, for InPost, eMAG/SameDay, Allegro, DPD/La Poste, UPS, Australia Post or Trendyol/Alibaba.  

More importantly, we have also made or carefully analysed a few mistakes on the way…ones that we can help you avoid!  

In this document we have collected experiences from the perspective of a logistics operator, e-commerce marketplace player, pure last-mile provider and hardware producer. Each case is different and please remember there are rarely two identical situations.  

Finally, all these proven tips are included in Last Mile Expert’s unique “Perfecting PUDO’s and Lockers” workshop, details of which can be found here: https://lastmileexperts.com/workshops/ 

Step 1: Preparation & understanding the market: 

As with military operations, nine tenths of success come with preparation. Only too often, this step is glossed over and even left out altogether, due to the need for fast action or lack of available resource or knowledge...and this almost always comes with considerable risk. 

So what are the key things to look at in this first and critical step of our OOH parcel network journey?  

Above all it is important to understand the market environments looking at things like: 

  • How is the parcel market developing? Who is generating the (B2C and C2X) parcels? Are any changes likely to influence this picture in the short and medium term? 
  • What are the key players critical to any OOH project? Typically, this will include: 
  • Large e-commerce (and increasingly re-commerce) players who are needed to “educate” the consumer and help ensure he/she click the OOH delivery option. They are also usually important generators of parcels in their own right (both outbound and returns) 
  • Carriers who will have complementary (or competitive) infrastructure and existing parcel volumes 

Retailers (or other entities) with a large physical footprint which is critical if your network is to be able to offer a minimum density of points and be up and running fast...

Subscribe to Last Mile Experts to unlock full access to this article and more

Select Daily Newsletter Last Mile Brief & Articles to unlock instant 24-hour access to exclusive past articles and receive daily updates on the latest logistics news.

Choose Last Mile Reports to gain instant 24-hour access to all published Last Mile Expert reports and stay informed about new publications.

    Get in touch

      cross linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram