Post Office: High street post giant partners with Amazon to launch click & collect trial
THE POST OFFICE has partnered with Amazon to launch a click and collect trial in some parts of the UK this week. The deal marks the first time the Post Office has partnered with a third party.
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The Post Office launched its click and collect trial with Amazon on March 1. The partnership enables customers to pick up their Amazon parcels at their local Post Office.
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The Post Office rolled out its click and collect trial in 200 post offices this week.
The post offices are located in Newcastle, Preston, and Edinburgh.
If the trial works, the click and collect system could expand to other parts of the UK.
The partnership with Amazon comes after the Post Office ended its exclusive mail distribution agreement with Royal Mail in December 2020.
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The Post Office ended its partnership with Royal Mail in order to enter new relationships with other providers, such as Amazon.
According to The Grocer, a letter sent to postmasters from the Post Office said: “We are excited for you to join us on this new venture in partnership with Amazon.
“We’re sure you will appreciate the significance of this and what a great opportunity it can be.”
Postmasters participating in the trial have received smartphones that can be used to scan the Amazon parcels once they are delivered to the post offices by courier.
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Customers will be able to present a pick-up code at their nearest Post Office before collecting their Amazon parcel.
A Post Office spokesperson said on Monday: “We can confirm a click & collect trial with a leading e-commerce retailer has begun today in three UK cities.
“We want customers to enjoy the convenience, expert advice and safe hands postmasters offer when it comes to handling parcels and we’ll be sharing more details about this trial and how it has worked with postmasters in due course.”
Speaking after his company’s agreement with Royal Mail had ended, Post Office Chief Executive Nick Read said in December last year: “The new agreement allows us to work with other third parties, marking an important milestone.”
Royal Mail remains the biggest parcel delivery company in the UK, having handled around 1.2billion parcels in 2018.
However, Hermes and Amazon are growing at a quick pace.
Last year, both companies shipped more than 550million parcels between them.
The click and collect service is currently being trialled in 200 post offices, but there are around 11,500 branches across the UK.
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In other post news, Royal Mail customers could be faced with delays this week as a result of “resourcing issues”.
The postal service has experienced a spike in demand over the last few months due to the coronavirus pandemic.
This week, 12 postcodes may be affected by postal delays.
These are Braintree (CM6, CM7), Chatham (ME4, ME5), Kidderminster (DY10, DY12, DY14), Leighton Buzzard (LU7), and Margate (CT7, CT9).
