InPost Group, Europe’s leading ecommerce enablement platform, opened its 5,000th Automated Parcel Machine site in the UK, continuing its expansion in the market for out-of-home delivery services as a new study showed the lockers help draw customers to retail sites that host them.


InPost opened site No. 5,000 in mid-March, bringing the total number of lockers to about 290,000 and making the UK the company’s second-largest market after its home country of Poland. Almost half the residents of London, Birmingham and Manchester now live within seven minutes’ walk of an APM site.

“We are exceptionally proud to have reached 5,000 APM sites in the UK – a breakthrough moment in our growth not only in this country but across Europe,” said CEO International Michael Rouse. “It’s also a significant step on our pathway to changing online shopping habits in the UK, as people value more and more the convenience of our environmentally friendly, 24/7 solution. Our locations in high-traffic areas such as rail stations, supermarkets and petrol stations make our service even easier to use: whether our customers are on their way to and from work, heading home from the gym or out for a meal with friends, there’s an APM location nearby to serve them.”

A recent study carried out with the UK unit of Lidl found that 54% of customers who used an APM located next to one of the chain’s supermarkets also made purchases in the shop, and almost half said picking up a parcel was their main reason for going shopping.

“Our APMs have an important role to play in supporting local businesses by drawing in new clients to the retailers where they’re co-located,” Rouse said.
InPost’s expansion strategy in the UK has been built on relationships with key players in retail and public transport. Its latest partners include Transport for Greater Manchester, supermarket chain Morrisons, online clothier Vinted and bookshop chain WHSmith.