Four years since the launch by DSV of a locker management system in Gauteng, the company has recorded a 33% increase this year alone.According to Brett Sauerman, GM of e-fulfilment Africa, while the progress of installing lockers has been held up by the lockdown, utilisation has doubled across the different service categories during this period. The initial target was to install 150 this year, but due to Covid-19 this figure had to be revised and it is now expected that only about a 100 will be installed by the end of 2020.
“The concept was launched in Gauteng as DSV anticipated the exponential growth in e-commerce and other direct-to-consumer services. Courier vehicles and smart locker solutions offered clients and their customers new delivery possibilities,” he said.
Since then the e-fulfilment strategy has struck the right chord with business and consumers. Using the locker system the driver, parcel and recipient don’t ever need to be available at the same time and place.
Sauerman said by the end of the year more than 400 of the lockers would be available for sending and receiving parcels throughout the country.The majority are still in Gauteng where 102 installed lockers were accessible to users in 2019. This is expected to increase to 136 in 2020. In the Western Cape a total of 86 lockers will be available at the end of year, 11 in the Northern Cape, 25 in the Free State, 21 in Mpumalanga, 63 in Kwa-Zulu Natal, 13 in North West, 21 in Limpopo, and 24 in the Eastern Cape.
“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,” explained Sauerman.
He said the company had partnered with smart locker Ricoh SA which had helped develop the system so that DSV got dashboard views that instantly showed which lockers were available, and tied back to the route planning system to optimise driver schedules and ensure locker availability upon their arrival.
“The lockers have 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,” said Sauerman. “Initially, it was thought large e-commerce retailers were the only natural fit, but no sooner was the system 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.”Sauerman said other applications were in the pipeline. There were also high expectations that the accelerated shift to e-commerce would lead to more and more DSV lockers being installed countrywide.
INSERT: "By the end of the year more than 400 of the lockers will be available for sending and receiving parcels throughout the country." – Brett Sauerman
