PostNL wants to build 1,500 parcel pick-up points by 2024 due to rise in e-commerce

Consumers have been ordering increasingly online since the start of the coronavirus crisis which means PostNL has to expand its capacity sooner and greater than previously believed. “Consumer habits have changed especially due to Covid-19”, CEO of PostNL Herna Verhagen said to NOS.

The company will invest around 450 million euros to build 1,500 parcel pick-up points and drop-off points by 2024 where customers can send off and receive their parcels by themselves.

“More is being bought online and e-commerce has increased. We will expand the capacity sooner and further than earlier anticipated to accommodate the large increase in the number of parcels”, Verhagen said.

A part of the boom in online shopping wass expected to recede now that customers have been able to shop again at the physical location. The number of delivery parcels dipped in April after stores were able to welcome customers, nonetheless, PostNL reported a turnover of 838 million euros. In total, PostNL delivered 95 million parcels in the second quarter, 11.4 percent more than in 2020.

PostNL estimated that around a quarter of the 280 million euro expected minimal gross profit for this year will be attributed to the effects of the coronavirus crisis.

The postal service anticipated that its growth will continue in the upcoming years. The company expected a gross profit between 330 to 370 million euros for 2024.