Post Office has teamed up with DPD as part of a plan to offer in-branch customers a wider range of parcel delivery options. The new Buy-In-Branch parcel service will begin in selected branches in time for the peak Christmas delivery season, complementing the recent launch of Parcels Online which enables customers to compare and purchase shipping online for drop-off in Post Offices.
In chosen branches, Post Office customers will be able to walk up to a counter and choose to send their parcels with DPD. The announcement marks the continued diversification of the Post Office as it evolves to become a one-stop hub for customers and a place where they can choose the delivery carrier which best suits their needs.
Elaine Kerr, DPD UK CEO, commented,
Buy-in-Branch extends our working relationship with the Post Office and will help provide more choice and convenience for UK parcel shippers. DPD parcel recipients can already collect their parcels from Post Office branches and regard them as safe and trusted locations for a wide range of services. The new service will help reinforce the unique position the branches have and, for the first time, give face-to-face parcel customers genuine choice over how they ship.
Neill O'Sullivan, MD of Parcels and Mails at Post Office, comments:
Post Office is innovating to meet changing customer preferences and the increasingly competitive market. Our goal is to deliver unmatched access to parcel services, addressing the needs of businesses and retail customers, both now and in the future.
Our Buy-in-Branch parcel service will not only widen delivery choice for our customers, but our in-person service provided by our dedicated Postmasters will also give them additional peace-of-mind knowing their parcels will be taken care of and arrive safely.
The launch of Buy In-Branch forms part of Post Office's broader Mails Strategy which has already introduced thousands of new carrier opportunities across its UK branch network, including Click & Collect, Customer Drop Off and Customer Return points, as well as extending its offering online with the launch of Parcels Online, with DPD earlier this year.
DPD is a member of Geopost, a European leader in parcel delivery and solutions for e-commerce. Part of the La Poste Groupe, Geopost generated a €15.6 billion revenue and delivered 2.1 billion parcels worldwide in 2022. The company operates more than 10,000 vehicles in the UK from 85 locations and delivers over 400 million parcels a year.
In 2018, DPD opened the UK's first all-electric parcel delivery depot in Westminster. DPD currently has over 3,000 EVs in the UK and has announced plans to deliver to 30 of the largest towns and cities in the UK with zero and low-emission final mile delivery vehicles, by the end of 2023.
