Royal Mail extends its Local Collect network

British postal service company Royal Mail will further extend its Local Collect network, by opening new collection points at more than 1,222 Royal Mail delivery offices. Amazon will be the first retailer to make us of this extended network, the nationwide postal service of Britain announced.

Starting today, consumers who shop at Amazon will be able to collect their online purchases from a loyal Royal Mail delivery office, the company said in a press release. Local Collect is already available at more than 10,000 Post Office branches across the UK.

The 10 percent extension is part of Royal Mail’s goal to tailor its delivery services to the changing needs of shoppers and brands. It should give consumers more flexibility and convenience in choosing when and where they want to collect the products they bought online. “The success of Local Collect with the Post Office has shown the importance of having accessible, local options for consumers to collect their online shopping”, Nick Landon, managing director at Royal Mail Parcels, said. “The extension of the network to include Royal Mail customer service points gives more options and more flexibility to consumers.”

Click and Collect
Royal Mail launched the Local Collect service in 2013 in partnership with the Post Office. Since the launch it has been the biggest click and collect network in the UK. And based on a study conducted by IMRG in April this year, around 80 million deliveries were made through click and collect and third party collection points last year.

The 1,222 Royal Mail Delivery offices are open six days a week, of which around 100 of the busiest offices are also open on Sundays.

Asda scraps investment in click and collect
This news from Royal Mail and its extended click and collect network comes at the same time major UK grocery retailer Asda announces it will put its click and collect expansion on hold.