Go to the profile of Julian Counihan
Julian Counihan
@redseaventures @mit @uva; former @citi @fortna
Great read, it’s interesting how looking at the verticals as a whole uncover very apparent patterns…
Kela
11

Thanks Kela.

Smart lockers are great in theory by allowing asynchronous, 24x7 delivery which opens the door for better route planning, higher utilization of couriers and fewer “dead legs”.

However in practice, the number of affordable / free alternatives can make this business model unsustainable.

Rural areas already have the luxury of asynchronous delivery (package on doorstep) and low density makes a central locker location inconvenient. Urban residents rely on packages being delivered to work, doormen, parcel locations or rolling the dice for home delivery. These alternatives create price constraints which make it difficult to cover the locker’s high operating costs.

The winner for the smart locker market (which is much smaller than at first glance) will be large parcel: UPS, FedEx, DHL, USPS. They have real estate assets and subsidize low margin / unprofitable lockers with savings realized by eliminating repeated failed delivery.

Below are the smart locker programs being rolled out in the US: