Pickup point in Poland 

The pick-up sector has been growing rapidly for several years, and this is due to the increasing popularity of the e-commerce market. According to a report by ExpertSender, in 2020, more than 79% of Poles who had access to the Internet (which is 85% nationwide) made purchases online. Until recently, courier companies had a dominant position in the sector of delivering packages to customers. Currently, consumers are more likely to choose another, self-service method such as pick-up points. This is due to the fact that the time it takes a courier to deliver a parcel is generally longer than the delivery time to the bulk parcel machine. Another issue, but also an important one, is choosing a convenient time to pick up the parcel when using courier services. Parcels are generally delivered between 07:00 and 14:00 - that is, when the vast majority of consumers are working. Therefore, it seems obvious to choose a parcel pick-up facility that is open 24 hours a day, or to use parcel pick-up points, for example, in grocery stores open until late in the evening. This avoids long waits in line at the post office or at home for a courier.

Poland is the leader

As we can read in the report "Out of home delivery in Europe 2022", Poland is one of the fastest growing countries in the market for parcel collection machines. The number of points where parcels can be delivered and picked up has expanded by more than 70%. Currently, there are 45,280 PUDO points and 19,580 APM points in our country. This gives a total of 74,050 OOH points, or out-of-home delivery points. Analyzing the number of out-of-home pickup points per 10,000 residents, Poland ranks 4th in Europe. Denmark is the leader in this ranking, with the Czech Republic and Finland completing the podium. In terms of pick-up points alone, not including parcel vending machines, Poland ranks 6th in Europe. The research process included 231 different operators - courier companies, independent operators, postal institutions, as well as local companies. Because of this data, Poland is referred to as "Lockerland." The first APM point was launched in Poland in 2008, and since then a real revolution in OOH has been underway.

Specifics of the market

In 2021, as much as 40% of all parcels were delivered to APM points. According to a study done by dataplace.ai, more than 11.5 million people live further than 6 km from the nearest APM point. So that's a sizable number, although it's spread across 6 major players such as courier companies, an e-commerce platform, an oil and energy concern and a national postal operator. The largest number of parcel machines is located in the Mazowieckie Voivodeship, due to our country's capital, and in southern Poland. Here one can see a correlation between the size of the city and the density of APM points. There is a sizable number of parcel pick-up and drop-off points in Poland. The PUDO sector, relative to last year, grew by 6.7%. Looking at all OOH points and translating them per 10,000 residents, we arrive at a figure of more than 18 points. Looking at the cities with the highest number of APM points, the aforementioned Warsaw comes out on top. The second place is occupied by Cracow, and the third by Lodz. Wroclaw is in fourth place, and Poznan in fifth. In the Polish capital, there are more than 1,000 people per vending machine. Dataplace.ai conducted a survey, which shows that 16.3 million (44.7% of the population) have access to the nearest parcel machine within 350 meters of their residence. Considering the number of people per parcel machine, the largest is in the municipality of Pruchnik at 9752. The second in this ranking is the municipality of Korsze with a score of 9427, and third place is occupied by Tarnowiec with 9197 people per device. Observation of Polish cities, based on this largest coefficient, is able to estimate the places showing the best potential for locating a new point. It should be noted here that the distribution of new points is related to several factors. One of them is the average age of residents in a given area. The relatively low age indicates an increased desire to make purchases online, and this translates into the choice of delivery to the postal device. Another factor is the presence of places that generate traffic among the population. These include stores, service outlets and sports and recreational facilities.

A steadily growing trend

In November and December 2021, Colliers conducted a survey showing that consumers who have access to all forms of picking up their parcel prefer to use parcel machines. Nearly one in three customers choose to pick up exclusively at a parcel machine. According to the report, "Rudolf can't do it alone. Parcel vending machines market in Poland", almost 60% of respondents do not use the option of picking up their parcel at parcel delivery companies' outlets. It is worth noting here that more than 50% of respondents do not use the services of courier companies on the basis of picking up a parcel from a courier. The main benefit of being able to pick up a package at a convenient time for the consumer was indicated by as many as 96% of respondents. Efficient delivery is highly rated by 62% of consumers. According to Colliers, the most popular products among respondents, were clothing and footwear getting 87% and books, which were ordered by 78% of respondents. Some 38% of respondents would not choose to order and pick up household appliances, electronics and groceries at a parcel service. When asked if they were satisfied with the availability of parcel pick-up machines in the vicinity of work, school or home, more than 80% said they were satisfied. The Coliers report also states that 92% of those surveyed operate mail machines close to where they live.

Summary

The "Out of home delivery in Europe 2022" analysis shows that more than 11.5 million people in Poland have more than 6 km to the nearest parcel machine. This figure stands in opposition to the Coliers report. The differences probably come from the relatively small number of respondents to the latter institution's survey. A population of 400 respondents, however, is a bit too small to get meaningful results. The figure of 11.5 million shows that there is still a large space to be developed in the parcel machine market. This is authenticated by the current trend of more and more new business structures emerging in the OOH delivery market. It should be borne in mind that the market is already quite competitive, and is mainly related to location, which must be properly evaluated in terms of attractiveness and potential. Setting up a PUDO point, or locating a parcel pick-up machine, involves costs, and therefore assessing the attractiveness of a location is a major factor in making a decision. Datalace.ai considered customer traffic at selected parcel machines to test the impact of the pandemic on their popularity. The analysis covered three periods - February 2020, July 2020 and November 2021 - at which time many restrictions were lifted. The result showed that 70% of dispensaries were less popular before the pandemic than during and after the pandemic period. This illustrates the success, but more importantly the usefulness of parcel collection machines, in times of crisis of reduced human contact. It is interesting to note the existing fact that July 2020 and November 2021 traffic for all parcel machines was 6% lower on average. This may be related to the fact that consumers have become accustomed to shopping in stationary stores under a sanitary regime and the fact that there has been an increase in the number of PUDO outlets. Reliable observation of traffic changes is very important for logistics companies, as it allows them to reign in and anticipate market needs. The biggest problems with regard to parcel collection, including in Poland, are the long time for the investment project to pay for itself, as well as rising logistics costs. That's why cyclical traffic control is important and allows you to determine the potential of a location, and this will contribute to the effective placement of the parcel pick-up machine and ensure stable traffic resistant to changes in market trends.