The race for the checkout · Head of eCommerce Partnerships

The Prize

Out of home is no longer the alternative. It is the default.

The shift in consumer behaviour towards out-of-home collection and drop-off is not a trend. It is an inflection point. The marketplaces are driving the volume. We have the network. The question is whether we own the moment of choice, or watch others own it for us.

Fastest growing segment in UK parcel delivery.

Fuelled by rising marketplace volume and the structural shift to out of home. The data is consistent. The direction is one way.

The volume engines

Three platforms are driving the bulk of growth.

Vinted, eBay and Etsy. Resale, second-hand, and creator commerce. Post Office sits naturally at the heart of all three, but only if we are the default at checkout.

VintedeBayEtsyAmazonASOSArgosJD.comTemu

The Mission

Make Post Office the default choice at the moment that matters most. Right there at checkout.

The Risk

The carriers are building the infrastructure to route around us.

Post Office is not alone in recognising this opportunity, and the competitive picture is moving quickly. These are not distant threats. They are happening in real time. The direction of travel is clear and we have to act on it.

Royal Mail

Building its own OOH locker network. Investing in Collect+. Converting post boxes into parcel drop points. Aggressively pursuing volume that has historically benefitted Post Office.

Evri

Operates around 3,500 locations through Post Office today. Rather than growing that footprint, doubling down on its own locker network and SSKs with sales functionality. Building infrastructure it owns and controls.

InPost · Quadient · Yeep

Continuing to expand aggressively. Each is investing capital into pure-play locker capacity. The race to install ahead of demand is on, and the locations are not random.

Live Risk Signal

Royal Mail is installing lockers at Post Office locations.

The strategic logic is clear. Install at popular PUDO locations. Migrate consumers into locker behaviour. Then switch Post Office off at checkout, diverting volume into infrastructure they own.

Once locker capacity fills, Post Office is turned back on as a fallback. There is a direct, measurable risk that partner-owned infrastructure gradually absorbs volume that currently feeds our network.

Volume at risk if status quo holdsDirection of travel · 2024 → 2027

Phase One · Win at Checkout

Be the default at every point of choice.

Three parallel work streams. The first sits us across from the people who move the volume. The second changes the inputs that decide who ranks first. The third builds the cultural reach that opens doors before we knock.

The Tables

Get into the marketplaces that move the volume.

PUDO growth is concentrated. Three platforms drive most of it, one is rising fast in the UK, and a long tail is emerging behind them. We work them in priority order.

Key Priority

Vinted eBay JD.com

Immediate Action

Amazon · SWA Returns

Joint pitches with Amazon for Ship With Amazon returns volume. Door open, demand visible.

Emerging Priorities

Whatnot Facebook Marketplace TikTok Shop

The Levers

Change the inputs that decide who ranks #1.

Checkout ranking is dynamic and behaviour-based. Proximity, compliance, popularity and experience shape the default position. We work the levers that shift them in our favour.

Key Levers

Bag-free, label-free sending. Reduces time-to-serve, lifts experience scores. PO GO is the proof point.
Joint branding. Co-marketing in marketplace UI, app and email.
Advertising opportunities. In-branch and in-app placements that fund the partnership.

Returns Platforms

Rebound ZigZag

Integrate with the platforms retailers already use, so Post Office becomes the default OOH option served downstream.

Carrier Deal Lever

Checkout clause. The next generation of carrier agreements protects Post Office's ranking position contractually, not just commercially.

The Stage · Host Office On Air

Become the show the marketplaces want to be on.

Turn the studio into a media platform. A podcast and live-streaming hub where the people who decide where parcels go come to talk. The audience is real. The relationships built off-air are bigger. It runs alongside The Tables and The Levers and makes both of them work harder.

The Format

Podcast. Long-form interviews with marketplace, logistics and creator-economy leaders.
Live-stream. Studio sessions with Whatnot and TikTok Shop sellers, our network amplifies.
Distribution. Spotify, YouTube, partner channels, postmaster network.

Where Guests Come From

Marketplace founders Resale economy Whatnot stars Creator economy Carrier strategy Logistics ops

Each guest brings their audience to ours. The roster compounds. The next guest is always easier to book than the last.

Why This Compounds

You cannot cold-call the Vinted UK GM. You can have them on the show.
90 minutes recorded equals trust, access, a known direct line.
The Tables and The Levers move faster because the relationships already exist.
The studio is already paid for. Marginal cost is a producer and a calendar.

Plays on Spotify YouTube Apple Podcasts Partner channels Post Office network

The Outcome

Post Office, ranked first at the moment that matters.

This is what we are working towards. Default position on the platforms that drive the most volume. The team at the counter sees the result. The customer sees the result. The postmaster sees the result.

Vinted Checkout · Step 2 of 3

Choose how to ship

How would you like to send your item?

Post Office Recommended

Drop off · 11,500 locations · Bag & label included

£3.39

InPost Locker

Drop off · Locker · 24/7

£3.49

Royal Mail · Collect+

Drop off · Print at home

£3.59

Illustrative. Pricing and ranking shown for narrative purposes.

Phase Two · Connect the Proposition

POL Logistics. The rails behind every send.

Phase One gets us seen at checkout. Phase Two makes the promise true. Direct partnerships open the lanes. POL Logistics is the spine behind them. PO GO is the hero send.

Direct Partnerships

Skip the carrier. Connect the marketplace to the branch.

Some marketplaces are open to a direct line into Post Office without a carrier middle layer. JD.com is the cleanest near-term conversation, with several others behind it. The lockers, drop-boxes and branch automation that make those lanes deliverable all run on rails. Those rails are POL Logistics.

JD.com · Active Conversations

PUDO direct to branch. No carrier middle layer. JD volume into our network on commercial terms we control.
Hybrid co-branded lockers. Locker capacity at or near branches, branded for both partners, capturing footfall.
Retail affiliate opportunities. Cross-sell across the JD UK ecosystem.

Lockers, Drop-boxes & Automation

Lockers. Branded capacity at and near branches, sized to catchment.
Drop-boxes. Out-of-hours and high-traffic catchment plays where branches are saturated.
Branch automation. Faster counter throughput on the high-frequency send patterns marketplaces drive.

How this connects with POL Logistics

Every direct lane we open runs on rails. POL Logistics is the question of who builds them. Active conversations across multiple candidates, each bringing different leverage. Cost, control, time-to-launch are the selection criteria. Not where we lead the conversation today. The connection matters because it shapes what we can promise.

InPost Menzies JD.com Existing Carrier Partner Other

The Hero Product

PO GO. If it fits, it ships.

Bag-free. Label-free. One fixed price. Designed to remove every point of friction at the counter, lift our checkout ranking signals, and create a hero send no rival can copy without the network we already have. Carrier slot is strategic.

Bag included

One fixed price

Label printed in branch

The fastest & easiest option becomes the most chosen.

Customer wins. Why senders pick PO GO over anything else.

Output A

POL-owned product · PO GO

A hero send Post Office can market, price, and improve unilaterally. Carrier partner sits in the slot. The brand and the experience belong to us.

Output B

Multi-carrier branch offering

One counter. Any carrier. One operational standard. Post Office becomes the universal POH layer of UK eCommerce delivery.

Phase Three · The End Game

Build the Post Office Marketplace.

A marketplace built for drop-shippers, SME sellers and Shopify merchants. The independent operators running fulfilment from kitchen tables and small warehouses, piecing together carriers, services and rates. Post Office can give them one place to ship, with the reach and rates only we can put on the table. This is where Post Office stops participating in eCommerce and starts defining part of it.

The Play

Create the demand. Then build.

Announce

Open the marketplace publicly. Stake the claim before anyone else does.

Waiting List

Open signups. Capture real intent. Sellers self-identify, ranked by readiness.

Active Outreach

Market directly to drop-shippers, Shopify sellers and SMEs. The list becomes a channel.

Build with Confidence

By the time we build, we know exactly what to build, who is waiting and how loudly.

No build needed today. No risk taken today. Costs nothing. Tells us everything. The build comes when the demand is proven, not before.

How we operate

Strategy is theory until it lands commercially, operationally and on the ground.

Turning awareness into relevance takes more than a pitch. It takes genuine understanding of how each platform operates, relationships at the right level, and propositions that work for everyone in the chain, including the people behind the counter.

Think like a carrier.

Anticipate moves before they happen. Read the algorithms, the incentives and the infrastructure plays. Position our response before volume shifts.

Build with postmasters.

Every proposition is tested against two questions. Does it earn the postmaster more, and does it serve the customer better. If both, it ships.

Win the next checkout, not the next quarter.

Quarterly thinking loses these races. Default position at checkout compounds. We invest in the moment of choice and the ranking signals that follow it.

The race for the checkout has started.