Consignia launches delivery-box challenge

NEWS Consignia, formerly known as the Post Office, has chosen its collaborators in a nationwide trial for etailers and consumers to deal with deliveries while the consumer is away from the home. The trial will involve five locker box systems from BearBox, ByBox, HAD Delivery Point, Homeport and Secure Storage Solutions (3S) that allow delivery services to drop off goods while the recipient is away from home, according to Consignia. Consignia spokesman James Eadie said: "We feel we're the best placed company to set-up these trials as we provide a strong link between customers and retailers. Consignia will agree on a set of standards to enable ParcelForce and services to deliver to drop box systems." Over 200 consumers will take part in the trials using four of the devices nationwide. Up to 1,000 will use the ByBox locker box system in Manchester, Oxford and Milton Keynes. The trails are expected to be resolved within six months, according to Eadie. In the US UPS is considering placing self-service drop boxes at local post offices following a non-exclusive deal last month between rival FedEx and the US Postal Service that is thought to be worth around $900m in revenue over seven years with 10,000 boxes. UPS is predicting revenues of $6.3bn over seven years from its deal.