According to Paketda, the first Hermes parcel locker is now in operation, and we can expect more.
A couple of weeks ago I stated that the consumers in Germany will have a lot of fun driving from locker to locker to parcel shop to pick up and return parcels. Well, the fun will increase with this step by Hermes.

A German locker market overview:
DHL locker – closed system
Amazon – closed system
Instabox – closed system
Deutsche Bahn Boxen – still only together with DHL train station lockers. Open but integration over the online Shops, so volume will be limited in the beginning
MYFLEXBOX – open system probably used by DPD Deutschland and UPS only
Hermes – I expect a closed system
Smartmile has announced market entry this year – open system
WORLD OF LOCKERS – open system

Plus
Various Click & Collect boxes from the likes of DM, Decathlon, and others
A Rewe pilot with fresh chilled food lockers

Smartmile, Deutsche Bahn and MyFlexBox boxes can be used by local retailers as well.

What we have not yet seen, apart from the Amazon lockers, are more online Shops / marketplaces with their own systems, a development which can be seen in some countries.

What we could see, is a new pricing system, where home delivery becomes so much more expensive than delivery to lockers or parcel shops. It would force the consumers, in their precarious financial situation, to either accept these new high prices for home delivery or makes a lot of driving around to “save” money when picking up and returning parcels. This strategy has worked in some of the Eastern European countries.

Can they succeed? I doubt it, as Amazon will probably not join that model, and Amazon Logistics is, based on my own research and calculation, already sitting on some +/-25% of the German last mile market and growing.

My sad conclusion is that the carriers do not care about consumer preferences / convenience, nor about sustainability. They only care about their costings / profits. And what better time to push this model together with online shops than during an energy crisis.
We have developed a quick and rough, but pretty accurate, way for consumers to calculate their personal cost, CO2 emissions and time consumption when driving to and from the Out of Home (OOH) delivery locations.
You may have a go yourself at: