How OOH Delivery is Being Integrated into Cityscapes and Public Spaces
9 September 2025
The rapid growth of the Out-of-Home (OOH) delivery market is reshaping urban landscapes. Consumers are demanding increasingly flexible and convenient delivery options and OOH delivery is responding to that need.
Among the most transformative changes is the rise of parcel lockers. These lockers are not only altering how people receive goods but are also becoming prominent features in urban landscapes. The potential is immense. With the right partnerships and approvals, there are vast opportunities for growth. This is demonstrated by recent initiatives such as the collaboration between DPD Czech Republic and Allegro, the expansion of locker networks through DPD UK and YEEP!, and the integration of DPD Germany parcel shops within MediaMarktSaturn stores.
Pickup, Geopost’s Out-of-Home (OOH) delivery solution, operates a network of parcel shops and lockers designed to seamlessly integrate into urban environments ౼ making parcel collection and drop-off more convenient and accessible.
Olivier Titeux (Sales Director, Pickup), Naïri Ployé (Marketing & Communication Director, Pickup), and Romain Jallon (Head of Locker Activity, Pickup), recently sat down together to exchange their insights on the rise of parcel lockers.
Before we dig into the integration process, what are some of the factors behind the popularity of parcel locker systems?
Olivier Titeux: The success of parcel lockers is being driven by a combination of factors, including consumer curiosity and a strong industry push to promote their use. What’s interesting is that this demand was, in part, created organically. In other words, the market didn’t just decide lockers were a necessity on its own, but rather that the solution gained popularity through intentional promotion and increased accessibility. This is particularly notable in Poland, where consumer preference continues to develop in favour of out-of-home solutions. While we’re seeing an exceptionally high demand for lockers, consumers weren’t necessarily seeking them out initially. That said, with a strong push from the industry, we’re now finding both the demand and the customers.
Naïri Ployé: Yes, as Olivier mentioned, it's important to recognise that we need consumers who are ready to embrace this change. And what drives change? A great user experience. Users are finding these types of delivery options to be easy and effortless. This kind of positive experience can generate a strong "comeback effect”, which means that consumers who try locker deliveries once are likely to keep returning to this method. We’ve also found that parcel lockers boast an exceptional Net Promoter Score of 70 ౼ revealing that customers are highly likely to recommend the service to others. Essentially, the more lockers are made available, the more demand will naturally follow.
Olivier Titeux: Building on that, the pace of life for city dwellers is quickening. People are increasingly looking for delivery solutions that fit their schedules – quick, convenient, and easy to access. Parcel lockers respond to this need, offering flexible access hours and allowing individuals to pick up parcels at the time that suits them best. In certain European markets, this added convenience supports evolving lifestyles and helps meet the growing demand for speed and flexibility ౼ especially in dense urban environments.
What are the current strategies for integrating locker networks into the urban landscape?
Olivier Titeux: It’s essential to ensure that lockers complement, rather than compete with, nearby businesses. That’s why we take a hybrid approach, balancing our network of parcel shops with automated lockers. We only install lockers in locations where they enhance existing services, particularly in densely populated areas or regions with limited access to stores. Our unique geomarketing approach helps us identify high-need areas based on population density, ensuring both broad and high-quality coverage. Our core business for locker installation revolves around partnerships, particularly with major supermarkets, which are an ideal fit for us because they offer long opening hours, are well-known, centrally located and often come with parking lots where lockers can be easily installed. This means our lockers are often accessible 24/7, making them incredibly convenient for customers.
It’s essential to ensure that lockers complement, rather than compete with, nearby businesses. That’s why we take a hybrid approach…”
Romain Jallon: When it comes to installing lockers in cities, we encounter unique challenges depending on the environment ౼ indoors or outdoors. For indoor, where space can be tight, we’ve designed modular "tiny" lockers. These are compact yet efficient, with multiple compartments to maximise capacity in smaller areas. In underground parking areas, or metro stations with low ceilings, we’ve gone a step further by developing "low height" lockers, removing the top rows to fit perfectly into these confined spaces. Outdoors, the game changes. We're working within the framework of local regulations, town-planning codes, and architectural guidelines. While these restrictions add complexity, they push us to be creative and adaptable, ensuring our lockers fit seamlessly into urban environments while maintaining their practicality and user-friendly design.
What challenges do you encounter when installing lockers in urban areas?
Naïri Ployé: In many historic town centres scattered across the European continent, certain areas are protected for their aesthetic and heritage value.
It is critical to preserve the local character even as urban spaces evolve ౼ which is why we offer more neutral, refined locker designs...that seamlessly blend into these historically sensitive environments.”
Indoors, especially in retail spaces, design also plays a crucial role in shaping the customer experience. We’ve taken this to heart by offering, as an option, design offers that align with the ambiance of our partners’ stores. Whether it’s a wood, marble, or jungle motif, our design themes are crafted to enhance the overall aesthetic while fitting the brand identity of our retail partners. This level of customisation not only strengthens our partnerships but also ensures our lockers complement the shopping experience and the store's visual appeal.
How does Pickup integrate creativity and aesthetics into its lockers in France?
Naïri Ployé: Some of our partnerships have redefined locker design, transforming them into high-impact, high-visibility assets. Because they’re placed in strategic, high-traffic locations – train stations, supermarkets, and urban hubs – lockers offer valuable owned media space that allows brands to stand out in a forest of lookalike options. So, from time to time in strategic locations, we can leverage this visibility with ephemeral campaigns and concepts. For instance, we teamed up with Nantes-based designer Mathilde Cabanas to reimagine 75 lockers across RATP, SNCF and Monoprix1 locations, featuring her signature playful designs—tulips, kisses, and smiley faces. These distinctive visuals help our lockers catch the eye, spark recognition, and enrich the user experience.
What recent innovations have you introduced to improve the efficiency and sustainability of your lockers?
Romain Jallon: We’ve taken an important step with our solar-powered lockers, which no longer need to be plugged in, making outdoor installations much simpler, while ensuring the same seamless experience as before.
Over the past few years, we focused on drastically reducing energy consumption, and this led to the development of our solar-powered lockers.”
To make this possible, we engineered the lockers to operate with minimal energy, which now benefits all of our lockers ౼ not just the solar ones.
What are some factors that could expand the functionality of these lockers?
Olivier Titeux: One of the areas we’re focusing on is how to integrate lockers more and more seamlessly into the lives of consumers. A lot of that depends on where the lockers are located. For example, lockers in Paris metro stations, where commuters pass through every day.
Romain Jallon: We're also actively exploring new applications for our lockers to maximise their utility. One promising avenue is enabling the host site to utilise the lockers for various purposes. For instance, retailers can offer click-and-collect services, allowing customers to conveniently pick up orders from our lockers.
One of our business units has begun implementing multi-service lockers in shopping malls. All the shops can use the locker to deposit parcels for their customers, providing a valuable service for those who need to pick up a product after regular store hours.
We're also investigating other potential uses, such as key exchanges for apartment rentals and self-service options for food and beverages. By expanding the functionality of our lockers, we aim to make them even more valuable assets for our partners and the communities they serve.
Naïri Ployé: The success of a locker launch is a mix of being able to sell the right product with the right design. In fact, it's a bit like the classic elements of the marketing mix. It's the sum of these three elements that will succeed in driving change.
By adding additional services like picking up a basket of vegetables from a local farmer, or leaving a package for a friend to pick up, or having a store drop your order into a locker if you won't make it before closing time ౼ the services that a locker can generate will create a link and drive traffic to the store ౼ it’s a win for everyone.
Sources:
- Chronopost follow-up survey sent to customers after picking up their parcel. July 2024.
- RATP: transportation operator for Paris and the surrounding region | SNCF: state-owned railroad system of France | Monoprix: retail chain in France offering a diverse range of products, including food, fashion, beauty, and home goods.