(Picture: postandparcel.info / linkedIn)

After the takeover of the public parcel lockers of Smartmile, DHL has taken over the entire net of Instabox’s lockers as well.

This is a confirmation of DHL new strategy of setting up public lockers outside of Germany.

It also raises the question of whether small startups can establish a relevant alternative to the big established players.

Today it looks as if only the carriers and the big marketplaces like Amazon, Bols, Allegro Home Delivery etc., are able to build an alternative infrastructure of public lockers.

The winners? Well, it is not the consumer. All these new locker networks are all non-agnostic, forcing consumers to pick up and return parcel from various locations.

The claim of public lockers being sustainable is hard to see when consumers start cruising from location to location. The rebound effect of the reduction of carrier emissions, are consumer emissions, which will by far exceed the savings the carrier can achieve. But the claim will remain until we get legislation around greenwashing like the UK has.

Maybe it’s just about saving money and transferring the high energy cost to the consumers.