In the biggest change to the postbox since it was introduced 175 years ago, Royal Mail has unveiled a new solar-powered design that will enable customers to send parcels more easily.
The new postbox has an extra-large opening to accept parcels larger than those that fit through a traditional letterbox – customers simply scan their parcel’s barcode and drop them in the drawer that opens on the postbox. They can also request proof of posting using the Royal Mail app, which has been upgraded to use 4G and the phone’s location services to facilitate this.
Five of the new postboxes are being piloted in the Ware, Hertford and Fowlmere areas of Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire before Royal Mail rolls them out further across the UK. Letters can still be posted in the usual way through a separate opening.
The move is part of Royal Mail’s drive to make it easier for customers to use postboxes to send parcels. There are 115,000 postboxes in the UK, located within half a mile of 98% of addresses, which have the potential to be converted into the UK’s largest parcel drop-off network. The postboxes currently accept parcels that are small enough to fit through a letterbox, but thousands could be adapted to the new design to accept larger parcels.
Emma Gilthorpe, CEO at Royal Mail, commented, “In making this historic change to our postboxes, our goal is to maximize 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. You can now drop your parcel in any postbox where it fits – you just need a label with a barcode.”