Jersey Post launches locker trial

Thursday 19 February 2015

Jersey Post has launched the first of eight locker banks for alternative packet and parcel delivery.

The new locker bank will be located at the General Hospital, and for the next three months, will be available for all Health and Social Services staff to use as part of a full, user service trial.

A reduced-size locker bank has been in place at Broad Street post office since 16 December as part of a promotional campaign to help raise awareness of the soon-to-launch service, but also as a means of gathering useful customer data on their preferences for packet and parcel delivery. This data was crucial in ensuring the service that is now being rolled out, fully meets the requirements of the local population.

The three-month service trial will enable Jersey Post to fully test the operational processes, but also ensure that customer collections run seamlessly. With a large number of shift workers who would be unable to pick up parcels from Rue des Pres or Commercial Street during office hours, the Health and Social Services staff were an ideal trial audience.

Helen O’Shea, Managing Director of the General Hospital, said: “Health and Social Services are pleased to be assisting Jersey Post with the trial of the secure locker scheme. The lockers are conveniently located at the Hospital and will be especially welcomed by our staff who work shifts as their parcels can be collected at a time to suit them. We wish Jersey Post every success with the trial of this scheme.”

The locker banks will provide 24/7 access for registered trial users. Any Health & Social Services member of staff who wishes to use the service will need to register with Jersey Post, and provide a mobile phone number, or email address, to which alerts will be sent.

They will then be allocated a unique address for a locker bank where their items will be delivered.

Tim Brown, Jersey Post Chief Executive, said: “The locker banks are a major investment for us and help us raise the bar in terms of providing convenient, flexible alternative delivery options for those people who are unable to be at home to receive larger items of mail, or items that require a signature on delivery. The locker bank at the hospital will be the first in an all-island roll out that will take place over the rest of 2015 and also 2016.”

The lockers are produced in different sizes to accommodate all types of packages, each one with a secure door that can only be unlocked with a unique pin code. When an item is received by Jersey Post, the customer will be alerted and sent the pin code to access the lockers. When the code is successfully entered at the locker console, the door of the appropriate locker will open and the item of mail can be retrieved. The banks of lockers can also be extended to incorporate chilled or frozen units that can be used to store perishable items for customer collection.

The introduction of parcel lockers is the latest in a series of alternative delivery initiatives from Jersey Post, which has included SecureDrop and Text & Collect, and is part of an on- going commitment to providing greater customer convenience through innovative products.

Jersey Post is also talking to a number of local businesses to see how parcel lockers can help them improve their respective services, for example enabling them to use the lockers to deliver goods to their customers more efficiently.