Pickup point and parcel locker delivery

Why customers choose a pickup point

Pickup point delivery is not just more convenient for consumers; it is also more cost-effective for merchants. Four reasons why more and more webshops actively promote pickup points in their checkout:

1. Lower shipping costs — carriers typically charge a lower rate for pickup point delivery than for home delivery. In the Netherlands, the difference is around €0.50 per shipment. The driver delivers multiple parcels to one address instead of making separate stops at individual homes. At hundreds of orders per day, that adds up fast.
2. A fix for delivery problems — consumers who have had bad experiences with home delivery (not at home, parcel left with neighbours, damaged delivery) increasingly choose a pickup point on purpose. It gives them control over where and when they collect their parcel, without depending on a delivery window.
3. Fewer lost shipments — parcels delivered to a pickup point are less likely to go missing than shipments left at the front door, in a shed, or with a neighbour. The parcel is stored in a secure location and only handed over after identification.
4. The default in many European countries — in the Nordics (Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway), collecting a parcel at a pickup point or locker is the standard delivery method, not the exception. The same is true in France, Poland, and the Baltic states, where out-of-home delivery is the dominant consumer choice. If you sell internationally, customers in these countries expect pickup points in your checkout.

Parcel Shop Locator: what your customer sees in the checkout

The Parcel Shop Locator is the widget that displays pickup points and parcel lockers in your checkout. Here is what your customer gets:

• Interactive map with all locations — the customer instantly sees all available pickup points and parcel lockers nearby, from every carrier you have activated, on a single map
• Distinction between parcel lockers and parcel shops — the locator shows locker machines (24/7 collection) separately from staffed pickup points, so the customer can make a conscious choice
• Distance in metres, opening hours, and address — for each location, the customer sees how far it is, when it is open, and the exact address
• Filtering by package dimensions (PuzzlPack) — only locations that can physically handle the parcel are shown. If it does not fit a locker, that locker does not appear as an option. If it does not fit a parcel shop, the pickup option is not offered at all
• Your own store locations — have physical shops? Display them as a pickup option on the same map, alongside carrier networks. Combine with click & collect and ship-from-store
• Multi-carrier in one widget — PostNL, DHL, DPD, UPS, GLS, Mondial Relay, InPost, Evri and more, all in the same locator. No separate integration per carrier needed
• Customisable to your brand — colour and language (NL, EN, DE, FR) are configurable, so the locator matches your brand identity
• Multilingual — the locator automatically switches with your webshop's language

The result: the customer picks the nearest pickup point in three clicks and your checkout conversion increases because there are no surprises in the delivery options.

The problem: full lockers and a worse customer experience

The popularity of parcel lockers is growing faster than capacity. Carriers increasingly deal with full locker stations, meaning shipments cannot be delivered to the machine. The result: your customer selects a parcel locker with 24/7 collection in the checkout, but the package ends up at a staffed pickup point with limited opening hours. That is not the delivery experience your customer expected.

Three causes behind this:

1. Package does not fit the compartment — an oversized parcel does not fit the locker and gets rerouted to a staffed parcel shop. The customer expected 24/7 collection but now has to visit during business hours. The result: frustration and more uncollected parcels.
2. Parcels occupy lockers too long — the longer parcels sit in a machine, the fewer compartments are available for new shipments. Carriers feel this capacity pressure, and ultimately the customer notices: parcels are more frequently diverted to a parcel shop instead of the preferred locker.
3. No insight into package dimensions — the checkout displays all pickup points and lockers without considering the size of the parcel. The customer selects a locker, but the package does not fit and gets rerouted.

As a retailer, you can help carriers by shipping smarter: sending the right packages to the right lockers and timing delivery around the pickup moment. This keeps locker capacity available and ensures your customers actually get the 24/7 collection experience they expect. An added benefit: retailers who demonstrably contribute to a more efficient delivery chain are in a stronger position when negotiating rates with carriers. Fewer failed deliveries and fewer return flows mean lower costs for the carrier, and that often translates into better rates for you.

PuzzlPack: does the package fit the locker?

PuzzlPack is Wuunder's packaging optimisation. The system knows your product dimensions and calculates the optimal packaging. The same dimension data is used to show only pickup points and lockers in the checkout that can physically accommodate the parcel.

In practice:

• Dimension check based on carrier limits — the Parcel Shop Locator filters lockers and pickup points based on the maximum dimensions and weight that each carrier specifies for parcel lockers and parcel shops. Carriers do not provide per-location limits, but every individual location falls within these national maximums. If the package exceeds locker limits, only parcel shops are shown. If it exceeds parcel shop limits, the option is not offered at all.
• Fewer returns from oversized shipments — without a dimension check, a package that is too large for a parcel shop gets returned to sender. PuzzlPack prevents this by only showing locations that can actually handle the parcel.
• The right location type for every package — if a package is too large for a locker but fits a parcel shop, only parcel shops are shown. The customer is not promised 24/7 locker collection for a package that will end up at a staffed point with limited hours.

PuzzlPack runs automatically once your product dimensions are entered in Wuunder. No extra configuration per carrier needed.

GreenChoice: deliver when it gets picked up

GreenChoice is Wuunder's sustainable delivery option that aligns the delivery moment with consumer pickup behaviour. For pickup point shipments this means the parcel arrives on the day the customer actually picks it up, rather than days earlier.

How it works for pickup point delivery:

1. The customer selects a pickup point in the checkout
2. GreenChoice analyses when carriers are already scheduled in that area
3. The parcel is delivered at the optimal moment: just before the expected pickup time

The impact:

• Shorter dwell time — parcels remain in lockers for hours instead of days
• More available capacity — lockers are freed up faster for the next parcel
• Lower CO₂ emissions — consolidated routes with fewer empty trips

88% of consumers voluntarily choose the green delivery day when offered alongside next-day (source: University of Groningen). GreenChoice is currently available in the Netherlands via Shopware, Magento, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, and the Wuunder API.

Wuunder Mailer: remind, don't hope

Not every parcel gets picked up on time. Consumers forget, miss the notification, or keep putting it off. The longer a parcel sits in a locker or pickup point, the higher the chance it gets returned to the sender, bringing extra costs and a disappointed customer.

Wuunder Track solves this with the Mailer: automated, proactive communication that keeps the recipient, the carrier, and the sender informed about every shipment's status. For pickup point delivery this means:

• Pickup reminder to the customer — the Mailer automatically sends a reminder when a parcel is ready and has not been collected yet, so the consumer does not forget to pick it up
• Escalation to the sender — if a parcel has not been collected after a certain period, the webshop is notified so action can be taken (customer service outreach, extension, or preparation for return)
• Fewer unnecessary returns — proactive reminders ensure more parcels are actually collected before the storage deadline expires

The combination of GreenChoice (smart delivery timing) and the Mailer (proactive follow-up) reduces average dwell time and the percentage of uncollected parcels.

Data: why this matters

Wuunder publishes the annual Parcel Radar study on the state of parcel delivery in the Netherlands. From Parcel Radar 8:

• 27.2% of parcels at a pickup point remain for over 48 hours
• The average dwell time is 45.3 hours
• Full lockers lead to return shipments and additional delivery attempts

These figures demonstrate exactly why dimension checks (PuzzlPack) and delivery timing (GreenChoice) are not nice-to-haves but operational necessities.

Pickup points in the checkout

With Wuunder Checkout, you offer all available pickup points in a single widget. The Parcel Shop Locator displays an interactive map with locations from all carriers for which you have activated a contract, whether you use your own contracts or resell rates via a Wuunder partner.

Available carriers with pickup point networks: