1,000 Parcel Locker Stations To Be Established Islandwide So S’poreans Won’t Miss Deliveries Again

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Online products are so cheap that we buy things we don’t even need. But with our busy schedules, we often miss our deliveries, which means we’ll have to wait another day to get that Hello Kitty phone cover we so desperately need.

Or do we?

1,000 Parcel Locker Stations To Be Established Islandwide So S’poreans Won’t Miss Online Deliveries Again

If you’re an online shopping addict, you’ll be happy to know that you’ll soon be able to collect your packages from parcel locker stations located within five minutes’ walk of all HDB blocks.

According to The Straits Times, this nationwide network of 1,000 stations will be progressively installed by end-2022 starting from this year.

Stations will be located in HDB estates, MRT stations, and community centres.

The initiative, announced by Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information (MCI) Sim Ann on Tuesday (3 March) aims to ease the pressures on the delivery sector.

“In Singapore, the popularity of e-commerce has led to a steady increase in parcel deliveries. But given Singapore’s urban context and consumers’ busy lifestyles, doorstep deliveries often mean missed deliveries,” said Ms Sim during the debate on MCI’s budget.

Reader: I’ve still not received my Hello Kitty phone cover

I’m sure you’ll get it soon, dear reader, at least by 2022.

How it’ll work

The locker stations will essentially work like your letterbox, except there are lockers of different sizes because people order all sorts of crazy things online.

The network will be available for use by all e-commerce and logistics service providers.

This is how it’ll work:

1. Couriers deposit parcels into the lockers by scanning a bar code
2. Consumers will then receive an SMS notification with a PIN number
3. The consumer has to key in the PIN number at the locker station to retrieve the package

Sounds easy enough right?

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It Was On Trial Before

This initiative follows a successful trial launched in December 2018 by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA).

IMDA worked with 18 companies, including e-retailers like Qoo10 and Zalora. They also worked with logistics service providers such as Singapore Post (SingPost) to deploy 62 locker stations in Punggol and Bukit Panjang.

The trial showed that these locker stations enabled a driver to deliver up to 250 parcels a day to the parcel lockers, about four times more deliveries compared to doorstep deliveries.

Dayum, that’s a significant difference.

However, Ms Sim said that this increased delivery efficiency may result in more competitive delivery prices for consumers.

Ah, of course.

Pressure on the delivery sector

As previously mentioned, the rise in popularity of online shopping has placed a lot of pressure on Singapore’s delivery sector.

Singpost was fined $400,000 earlier last year for failing to meet government delivery standards over the previous two years. That’s why they ended doorstop deliveries for packages in December.

Reader: But how do their customers get their packages then?

According to The Straits Times, a notice to collect the item from a post office is now left in the letterbox.

At any rate, this is good news for online shoppers.

You’ll get your package quicker, and you won’t have to wake up at 7am on a Sunday when that delivery guy finally came to deliver your Hello Kitty phone cover.

Reader: IT WAS WORTH IT