33% increase in DSV Lockers by march 2021
DSV’s “convenient courier” strategy delivers greater choice to businesses and consumers
2020/10/07
Businesses and private consumers will have access to more than 400 DSV Lockers by the end of 2020 to send and receive parcels throughout the country.
Launched in 2016, the DSV Locker has quickly become the popular choice for tens of thousands of people who want to send and receive parcels, and collect their online purchases, at a place and time convenient to them.
DSV anticipated the exponential growth that e-commerce and other direct-to-consumer services offered. The DSV Locker combined with DSV’s courier services introduces a preferred alternative that meets the expectations of the typical new age customer.
The DSV locker in effect removes the need for a parcel and customer to be available at the same date, time and place for a successful delivery. The DSV Locker mitigates this challenge and thereby adds an additional element of convenience for customers.
While the progress of installing lockers was held up by the lockdown, utilisation has doubled across the different service categories during this period. Although the initial target to install 150 additional DSV Lockers in 2020 has been thwarted by the lockdown, it is still expected that 100 will be installed by March 2021.
Consumers access DSV Lockers throughout South Africa, in all nine provinces. The before and after numbers for 2019 and March 2021 are:
Launched in 2016, the DSV Locker has quickly become the popular choice for tens of thousands of people who want to send and receive parcels, and collect their online purchases, at a place and time convenient to them.
DSV anticipated the exponential growth that e-commerce and other direct-to-consumer services offered. The DSV Locker combined with DSV’s courier services introduces a preferred alternative that meets the expectations of the typical new age customer.
The DSV locker in effect removes the need for a parcel and customer to be available at the same date, time and place for a successful delivery. The DSV Locker mitigates this challenge and thereby adds an additional element of convenience for customers.
Consumers access DSV Lockers throughout South Africa, in all nine provinces. The before and after numbers for 2019 and March 2021 are:
| Province | 2019 | March 2021 Projected |
| Northern Cape | 8 | 11 |
| Free State | 19 | 25 |
| Western Cape | 64 | 85 |
| Gauteng | 102 | 136 |
| Mpumalanga | 16 | 21 |
| Kwa-Zulu Natal | 47 | 63 |
| North West | 10 | 13 |
| Limpopo | 16 | 21 |
| Eastern Cape | 18 | 24 |
| 300 | 400 |
Brett Sauerman, GM of e-fulfilment Africa, said the locker management system is integrated into DSV’S business and transport management systems, and this enables geolocating parcels at any time, providing customers with click-through links to maps of where the locker with their parcel is located, and messaging customers to alert them that their parcel has arrived.
Smart locker partner Ricoh SA has helped develop the system so DSV gets dashboard views that instantly show which lockers are available, and ties back to the route planning system to optimise driver schedules and ensure locker availability upon their arrival.
Smart locker partner Ricoh SA has helped develop the system so DSV gets dashboard views that instantly show which lockers are available, and ties back to the route planning system to optimise driver schedules and ensure locker availability upon their arrival.
The DSV Locker has many applications – the financial services sector reaches customers safely and conveniently, and complies with regulations; retailers send parcels and receive returns; the long-distance education sector sends and receives student assignments, and clients in the technical industries – including Ricoh – send spares through the system.
Initially, it was thought large e-commerce retailers were the only natural fit, but no sooner was the DSV Locker introduced than interest from other sectors became evident.
“The sophisticated software behind the lockers, in some cases using the latest multifactor authentication capabilities, enables us to provide bi-directional interactions with customers at the locker. That’s a powerful business enabler, particularly in light of regulatory requirements,” said Sauerman.
Other applications are in the pipeline, and Sauerman expects the accelerated shift to e-commerce will, in turn, lead to more and more DSV Lockers being installed countrywide.
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