The Royal Mail is set to make a major change to thousands of postboxes around the UK. It marks the biggest change to the iconic red postbox in its 175-year-history, with around 3,500 set to be impacted.
The Royal Mail will introduce new solar-powered postboxes, which will feature a digitally activated drop-down drawer. This will allow people to send parcels as big as a shoebox using the “postboxes of the future”. They aim to support increasing numbers of people selling second-hand items online. Earlier this year, four of the new boxes were placed in Letchworth, Garden City, Ware and Hertford. A fifth was also put in place in Fowlmere, Cambridgeshire. Further digital postboxes will now be rolled out in cities including Edinburgh, Manchester, Nottingham, Sheffield, and Sunderland.
The Royal Mail chief executive Emma Gilthorpe said the move was an “historic change” that would give “our iconic postboxes a new lease of life”.
Customers will be able to scan a barcode on the Royal Mail app to open the drawer for parcels too large to fit through the traditional slot. They are powered by small solar panels on top of the box.
Jack Clarkson, managing director of out of home and commercial excellence at Royal Mail, said: “We are all sending and returning more parcels than ever before.
“This trend will only continue as online shopping shows no signs of slowing, particularly with the boom of second-hand marketplaces.
“There are 115,000 postboxes in the UK located within half a mile of 98% of addresses, making them by far the most convenient network of parcel drop-off points in the UK.
“Our message is clear, if you have a Royal Mail label on your parcel, and it fits, put it in a postbox and we’ll do the rest.”
There are now over 23,500 parcel points across the UK, including Collect+ stores, Post Office branches, Royal Mail customer service points and existing parcel postboxes. Amazon also launched a delivery service on foot earlier this year.
Ms Gilthorpe previously said: “In making this historic change to our postboxes, our goal is to maximise choice and convenience for our customers.
“In an era where letter volumes continue to decline and parcels are booming, we are giving our iconic postboxes a new lease of life on street corners across the nation.”
