Omniva to begin forwarding international parcels to parcel terminals
Estonian state-owned postal and logistics company Eesti Post, which operates under the Omniva brand and currently offers Estonia's universal post service, will begin automatically forwarding international parcels to parcel terminals rather than post offices. Eesti Post will begin testing out the solution this month, and intends to roll it out nationwide by this summer.
"By forwarding parcels to parcel terminals, we will kill not just two but three birds with one stone," Evert Rööpson, head of the parcel terminal network at Omniva, said in a press release. "First, it allows us to deliver the package more quickly and conveniently to the customer. Second, it will help us take better advantage of the expansion of the parcel terminal network, and third, mitigate the congestion occurring at post offices due to large parcel volumes during peak season."
Acording to Mr Rööpson, more popular post offices are currently overwhelmed by the issuing of small international parcels. As a result, Omniva has launched a pilot programme under which parcels from post offices where large parcel volumes are encumbering service will be forwarded to parcel terminals.
The move aims to offer customers the opportunity to pick up their parcels at a nearby terminal rather than at the post office, thus providing convenient service regardless of the time.
Previously, recipients in the city districts of Kristiine, Õismäe and Central Tallinn picked up their parcels at the post office corresponding to the post code of the parcel's destination. Now, however, if all relevant prerequisites are fulfilled — the package has to include the recipient's mobile phone number, as well as fit in a terminal locker — packages will be forwarded directly to the nearest parcel terminal.
As a result, parcels can be picked up by their recipients 24 hours per day, as Omniva parcel terminals are located outdoors. This also means, of course, that vacant lockers must be available in the area.
This summer, Omniva will begin testing the use of a sorting line that will allow for the automatic identification of whether a parcel qualifies to be forwarded to a parcel terminal. The system would thus allow for parcels from Amazon, Aliexpress, Ebay and other foreign online retailers to be forwarded to parcel terminals across the country.
AS Eesti Post is an international group offering postal, logistics and information logistics services. The company operates the largest parcel service network in the Baltics, with over over 500 parcel terminals, some half of which are located throughout Estonia.
Editor: Aili Vahtla
