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▼ Everyday Exploration / ‘Delivery lockers’ a Growing Hit For Privacy
- Category:Other
By Miki Yabuki / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
More and more people are taking delivery of parcels at special lockers set up at railway stations and post offices instead of at home. The service benefits both delivery companies, which want to reduce time trying to redeliver packages because recipients are absent, and users, who want to pick up packages at a time convenient to them.
Another advantage of the service is privacy. Some people do not want to make their address known or have strangers come to their homes.
One night in mid-March at the Kotakemukaihara subway station in Nerima Ward, Tokyo, where “delivery lockers” have been installed, a succession of people could be seen coming to collect delivered items.
Users can open the lockers by entering personal identification numbers sent to them by e-mail. Use of the lockers is free of charge. A 28-year-old woman who works at a company in the ward said she stopped on her way home from work to collect some clothes she had bought online.
“I can’t receive parcels during the day, and it’s a waste of time to wait around at home for redeliveries,” she said. “Being able to collect them at the station is very convenient.”
Yamato Transport Co. started the service on a trial basis in November last year. In areas with a high proportion of people who are absent from home during the day, the company had special lockers installed at six locations within Tokyo, such as train stations.
Yamato Transport delivers parcels to the lockers if recipients designate them as the pick-up point when requesting redeliveries. Recipients can pick up their parcels anytime within three days as long as the station is open. However, the service cannot be used for fresh food.
Many users, most of whom are in their 20s and 30s, pick up their parcels at night long after delivery hours, according to Yamato Transport. After learning that its lockers were being used more than expected, the company is now considering expanding the service at such places as stations and bicycle parking lots.
Tokyu Store Corp. had lockers installed at Tsunashima Station on the Tokyu To-yoko Line in Yokohama exclusively for shoppers who use its online supermarket. Refrigerated, the lockers can be used to store fresh food. Their use is free for shoppers who purchase at least a specified amount.
20% of parcels redelivered
The growing number of two-worker and single-person households is the main factor behind the increasing popularity of the locker delivery system. Twenty percent of all deliveries have to be redelivered, according to the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry.
It is estimated that about 180 million hours a year is spent on redeliveries in Japan, equivalent to the labor of 90,000 full-time workers. And because they have to alter their routes for redeliveries, their vehicles emit an additional 420,000 tons of CO2 per year.
Personal security is another factor in the popularity of the new service. “Because crimes have been committed by perpe-trators disguised as home delivery workers, some women do not want to take deliveries at home,” said Maki Kawano, a lifestyle guide at the general information website “All About.”
People can pick up their packages at the offices of home delivery service companies or convenience stores. However, Kawano said, “Some people are reluctant to use convenience stores as store clerks can read their address.”
Since April last year, Japan Post Co. has been increasing the number of free-of-charge “Hakoposu” delivery lockers at stations and post offices throughout Tokyo, and as of March 30 there were such lockers at 31 locations.
Some products handled by major online retailer Rakuten Co. can be picked up at 22 of these locations by designating the post offices as the shipping destinations when ordering.
“Because there’s no need for a recipient to write a home address, the system is convenient for young women who may have security concerns,” said Atsushi Shinoda, the general manager of Japan Post’s product design division.
By 2020, Japan Post plans to increase the number of delivery locker locations to 1,000 nationwide in places such as post offices and supermarkets in Sapporo and make it possible for all delivery companies to use them.
At six stations on the Keio Line, including Shinjuku Station, some coin lockers have been converted into delivery lockers. Products sold by major online retailers can be sent directly to the lockers by designating them as the pickup location when ordering.
“It would be even more convenient if delivery lockers were placed, not only at stations, but also at other places we frequent, such as supermarkets and convenience stores,” Kawano said.
One question concerning the service is who should bear the cost of installing the lockers.
“I think users would be willing to pay additional fees for the convenience of the system,” Kawano said. “I hope the various people involved, such as transportation companies and companies that rent out locker locations, will come together to find solutions.”
More and more people are taking delivery of parcels at special lockers set up at railway stations and post offices instead of at home. The service benefits both delivery companies, which want to reduce time trying to redeliver packages because recipients are absent, and users, who want to pick up packages at a time convenient to them.
Another advantage of the service is privacy. Some people do not want to make their address known or have strangers come to their homes.
One night in mid-March at the Kotakemukaihara subway station in Nerima Ward, Tokyo, where “delivery lockers” have been installed, a succession of people could be seen coming to collect delivered items.
Users can open the lockers by entering personal identification numbers sent to them by e-mail. Use of the lockers is free of charge. A 28-year-old woman who works at a company in the ward said she stopped on her way home from work to collect some clothes she had bought online.
“I can’t receive parcels during the day, and it’s a waste of time to wait around at home for redeliveries,” she said. “Being able to collect them at the station is very convenient.”
Yamato Transport Co. started the service on a trial basis in November last year. In areas with a high proportion of people who are absent from home during the day, the company had special lockers installed at six locations within Tokyo, such as train stations.
Yamato Transport delivers parcels to the lockers if recipients designate them as the pick-up point when requesting redeliveries. Recipients can pick up their parcels anytime within three days as long as the station is open. However, the service cannot be used for fresh food.
Many users, most of whom are in their 20s and 30s, pick up their parcels at night long after delivery hours, according to Yamato Transport. After learning that its lockers were being used more than expected, the company is now considering expanding the service at such places as stations and bicycle parking lots.
Tokyu Store Corp. had lockers installed at Tsunashima Station on the Tokyu To-yoko Line in Yokohama exclusively for shoppers who use its online supermarket. Refrigerated, the lockers can be used to store fresh food. Their use is free for shoppers who purchase at least a specified amount.
20% of parcels redelivered
The growing number of two-worker and single-person households is the main factor behind the increasing popularity of the locker delivery system. Twenty percent of all deliveries have to be redelivered, according to the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry.
It is estimated that about 180 million hours a year is spent on redeliveries in Japan, equivalent to the labor of 90,000 full-time workers. And because they have to alter their routes for redeliveries, their vehicles emit an additional 420,000 tons of CO2 per year.
Personal security is another factor in the popularity of the new service. “Because crimes have been committed by perpe-trators disguised as home delivery workers, some women do not want to take deliveries at home,” said Maki Kawano, a lifestyle guide at the general information website “All About.”
People can pick up their packages at the offices of home delivery service companies or convenience stores. However, Kawano said, “Some people are reluctant to use convenience stores as store clerks can read their address.”
Since April last year, Japan Post Co. has been increasing the number of free-of-charge “Hakoposu” delivery lockers at stations and post offices throughout Tokyo, and as of March 30 there were such lockers at 31 locations.
Some products handled by major online retailer Rakuten Co. can be picked up at 22 of these locations by designating the post offices as the shipping destinations when ordering.
“Because there’s no need for a recipient to write a home address, the system is convenient for young women who may have security concerns,” said Atsushi Shinoda, the general manager of Japan Post’s product design division.
By 2020, Japan Post plans to increase the number of delivery locker locations to 1,000 nationwide in places such as post offices and supermarkets in Sapporo and make it possible for all delivery companies to use them.
At six stations on the Keio Line, including Shinjuku Station, some coin lockers have been converted into delivery lockers. Products sold by major online retailers can be sent directly to the lockers by designating them as the pickup location when ordering.
“It would be even more convenient if delivery lockers were placed, not only at stations, but also at other places we frequent, such as supermarkets and convenience stores,” Kawano said.
One question concerning the service is who should bear the cost of installing the lockers.
“I think users would be willing to pay additional fees for the convenience of the system,” Kawano said. “I hope the various people involved, such as transportation companies and companies that rent out locker locations, will come together to find solutions.”
- April 26, 2016
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