Amazon has just expanded its distribution and delivery network in the UK by partnering with the Royal Mail to deliver Amazon packages to British post offices – an arrangement that observers say could help to support the ailing UK postal service, already under attack from private sector competitors in the parcels and door-to-door delivery space. The UK post office network, spun off from the delivery network in April 2012 as Post Office Ltd., gives Amazon around 10,500 new points of presence across the country, “taking the total number of Amazon pickup points across the UK to more than 16,000,” according to the Amazon UK press release.
“Deliveries made to Amazon Pickup Locations nationally have more than tripled in the last year as customers continue to enjoy the convenience that they provide,” Amazon UK claimed, having also recently expanded its Pick-Up Location program to include same-day delivery, in cooperation with newspaper and magazine distributor Smiths News, a division of Connect Group Plc. This pattern correlates with previous reports of Amazon’s moves to partner with Transport for London for access to delivery points along the London Underground, an initiative shadowed by UK online catalog sales megastore Argos with its newly opened premises in London’s Cannon Street Tube station.
“Customers can collect their Amazon orders from over 16,000 Pickup Locations across the UK,” said Christopher North, Managing Director of Amazon UK, in the release. “Pickup Locations have become the delivery method of choice for many shoppers. Offering the collection of packages from Post Offices is another great way of providing our customers with the highest levels of convenience.”
