By today, all five Lääneranna rural municipality post machines have been installed in addition to one machine in Tõstamaa in Pärnu County. The first machine was launched in Lõpe, then in Virtsu, Varbla and Tõstamaa, and the day before yesterday in Kõmsi and Koonga.
As the first step, it will be possible to use the machine to receive goods purchased from e-shops by selecting the suitable post machine as the delivery destination. As with the familiar parcel machine, the client will receive an SMS with the door code when the parcel reaches the machine. By entering the code using the machine’s keypad, the client can conveniently receive the parcel near their home. The machine can be used 24/7.
As a machine, the post machine is simpler than the large parcel machines in the cities; it does not have a payment terminal or other accessories. This means that, during the pilot period, it is not possible to use post machine to retrieve goods using the cash-on-delivery option (if goods are paid for when delivered) or with the agreement that the recipient pays the shipping fee upon receiving the goods. Such goods can be ordered in the post machine but during the pilot period these goods will be delivered by a postal courier to the recipient’s house. For this purpose, the recipient is contacted and a suitable time and place for delivery is agreed.
The next step is to allow local entrepreneurs to use the machines. If all goes well, this should be possible in the coming weeks – the exact time depends on the software development prepared by the manufacturer of the machine, which is created especially for the open network of post machines.
The machines in the Lääneranna rural municipality are also used by the local postal courier or postman for delivering post.
During the post machine pilot project, 12 machines will be installed in Estonia: five in Lääneranna rural municipality in Virtsu, Varbla, Koonga, Kõmsi and Lõpe villages. The other seven machines will be installed elsewhere in Estonia (Tõstamaa, Veriora, Kolga-Jaani, Võhma, Rakke, Roobuka, Luunja). The company will test the service provision at all locations to learn, in cooperation with the local government and entrepreneurs, what people really need.
In Lääneranna rural municipality, we will also test the use of the machine as a post distribution point to make postal items reach the post boxes of the locals faster. This means that the area’s post, which is sorted according to the rounds of the specific village (or region), is placed in the post machines. Mail carriers can then retrieve the sorted post from the machine and deliver it to the area’s post boxes. In the future, this could also be a possible quick job option for locals who do not want to be full time mail carriers but would be willing to deliver post in their own village.
The aim of the post machines is to make shipments and (postal) services more easily available for people in rural areas and to enable new opportunities for local services. As one possibility, the post machines could provide various circular services in the community, such as book lending, shoe repairing, dry cleaning and other services that require sending items back and forth.
It is worth noting that it is a post machine and not a parcel machine. As the third step, the post machine will also provide other (postal) services in addition to the regular parcel service. Thus, there will surely be a reason to write more about post machines and the services offered in the future. Until then, enjoy the services that have been launched so far!
According to the calculations of Eesti Post, postal services would be reasonably close to Estonian people if every village or borough with at least 150 residents had a post machine. This means that around 1000 post machines should be installed across Estonia, which is a major investment that also requires support from the state.
