Polish parcel locker firm, InPost, announced last week it had acquired UK parcel delivery firm, Yodel, in a £106m deal that will create the third-largest ecommerce logistics carrier in Britain.

By combining the largest out-of-home (OOH) delivery network with Yodel’s home delivery capabilities, InPost aims to scale its operations significantly, expand its service offerings and provide greater convenience to retailers and customers. Following the transaction, and its 2024 acquisition of Menzies Distribution in 2024, InPost UK’s market share will increase to 8%.

UK shoppers stubbornly wed to home delivery

Viewed in light of the UK’s lower locker collection adoption in comparison to Europe, the acquisition makes sense for a market that’s still stubbornly wedded to home delivery.

Locker collections are already the preferred option in some Baltic and Eastern European countries with Last Mile Experts reporting Europe is the global leader of OOH delivery, with consumer preference for home delivery falling from 73% to 64%.

Current adoption of PUDO leaves headroom for growth

Speaking at The Delivery Conference earlier this year, Emma Clarke, Senior Director of Product Management at Metapack Group, noted Pick Up Drop Off (PUDO) adoption (including delivery to lockers) during Peak 2024 remained low at under 1%, despite 43% of checkout requests including collection options.

Research from Retail Economics, released in 2024, revealed that more than half of UK consumers use delivery lockers for online purchases, increasing to 71% for Gen Z and 68% for Millennials. However, home delivery remains the preferred delivery method selected for three quarters (74%) of last mile deliveries.

Parcel delivery groups are clearly banking on continued strong growth in OOH and are opening record numbers of mail lockers. French group Geopost, owner of DPD, reported the number of locker locations it offers across Europe has risen +63% to 31,000 in 2024. German group, DHL also reported its locker network grew last year by nearly +50% to 36,000 locations globally.

Incentivising OOH delivery

The benefits of OOH for retailers are clear – cheaper delivery costs, decreased parcel theft and fraud alongside fewer delivery failures and resulting WISMO (Where Is My Order) calls. But how do brands nudge consumers out of the home delivery comfort spot?

“PUDO has a 99.1% delivery success rate,” Clarke noted at TDC2025. She recommends retailers and brands encourage uptake by sharing the savings of OOH deliveries with customers – citing Metapack research, she said two thirds (65%) of consumers will take up PUDO if retailers offer it for free. “You’ll get happier, repeat customers that advocate for your brand as well,” she added.