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For the first time, customers will be able to buy Royal Mail parcel postage and stamps over the counter at these locations, allowing them to pay in person as well as purchase postage online in advance.
This gives those who prefer face-to-face services more flexibility in how they access Royal Mail’s services on the high street—including during evenings and weekends.
This service is now live in 500 shops and will be rolled out more widely in the coming months.
Customers will also be able to collect their Royal Mail parcels from the shops. Vinted users can already have their orders delivered to the locations, and more retailers are expected to follow in the near future.
Located in popular locations within the community and open evenings and weekend, the Royal Mail Shop outlets will give customers greater flexibility.
The new high street brand has been made possible after Royal Mail’s parent company, International Distribution Services, acquired a 49% stake in Collect+. The move is part of Royal Mail’s multi-channel strategy to make collecting, sending and returning parcels as convenient as possible as trends for online shopping and selling on marketplaces continue to grow and create unprecedented demand for parcel services.
The shops follow the rollout of Royal’s Mail own locker network and the recent launch of 3,500 ‘postboxes of the future’ designed to accept larger parcels up to the size of a shoebox.
The company has also made it easier to use its 115,000 postboxes to send smaller parcels that will fit through a letterbox, enabling customers to request proof of posting using the Royal Mail app.
Including the almost 8,000 Royal Mail Shop locations, the company has the biggest network of parcel points, with almost 24,000 locations including 2,000 lockers, 11,500 Post Office branches, 1,200 Royal Mail Customer Service Points and 1,400 parcel postboxes.
Alistair Cochrane, interim chief executive of Royal Mail, said: “The launch of the Royal Mail Shop brand creates a new and improved high street destination for all of our customers’ parcel needs in one location.
“With postage available to buy in store, and opening hours including evening and weekends, the shops are giving customers greater flexibility in how they collect, send and return their parcels.
“This investment is one of the ways we’re making Royal Mail more convenient. We have the UK’s largest network of out-of-home parcel points — from lockers to solar-powered postboxes — and we’re focused on being the nearest and simplest choice for our customers.”
Nick Wiles, chief executive of Collect+, said: “We are delighted that Royal Mail has invested into the Collect+ business, which has seen strong growth over the past five years as we have established it as the leading open out of home store network in the UK.
“The addition of Royal Mail over the counter services and Royal Mail Shop branding is an exciting development for our retailer network and is another example of how we deliver vital community services across the UK, including local banking, parcels and broader access to cash services.”
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