Stores are handling collections, returns and courier pick-ups alongside their everyday trade. Modern Expo UK managing director Vasyl Matviiuk and client solutions and partnerships manager Sultana Kadir explain where lockers could ease the workload, and why retailers should think carefully about how much technology they need…
An online order doesn’t stop creating work when it reaches the store. Someone still has to find it, check it and hand it over, often while another customer waits to pay. Add returns and couriers collecting food orders, and staff have to divide their attention between shoppers in front of them and those whose purchases began elsewhere.
That pressure comes as retailers face tighter staffing budgets. Research from Pricer in 2025 found that 50 per cent of UK shoppers say reduced in-store staffing is negatively affecting their shopping experience, while 36 per cent of UK retailers face greater pressure to reduce labour hours or improve staff productivity due to rising wages.
It’s this pressure that Modern Expo is looking to ease with its next UK locker rollout. Following a successful proof of concept with a leading UK retailer, the company is preparing to introduce parcel lockers that allow on-demand couriers to collect orders without queuing at the till.
Couriers working through platforms such as Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Just Eat will be able to pick up in seconds, says UK managing director Vasyl Matviiuk. “That gets food to customers faster and frees store staff to serve shoppers.”
The project extends a UK locker business that has now passed 2,500 installations with Royal Mail, according to Matviiuk. Staff will still need to prepare orders and place them in compartments, but each collection will no longer require a separate handover at the counter.
Peak pressure extends into January
Matviiuk identifies capacity, cost to serve and returns as the three main pressures facing retailers this golden quarter. Rising labour and operating costs leave less room for time-consuming processes, while failed deliveries and second attempts further reduce order margins.
“The golden quarter doesn’t end in December; it ends when the returns wave clears in January,” he says.
That makes returns part of the peak-season planning challenge. Customers expect a straightforward way to hand purchases back, but stores need the space and processes to accommodate them alongside normal trade. For retailers assessing lockers, the question is broader than how many Christmas collections they can handle, it’s which services an installation could support throughout the year.
There’s also a potential sales benefit. Collection gives customers another reason to visit, creating an opportunity to sell something alongside the order they have already placed.
According to InPost UK’s 2025 research, 74 per cent of locker users visit a nearby convenience store before or after collecting a parcel, one in three spend up to £15 during their visit, and 52 per cent say having a locker nearby makes them more likely to return to the store.
“A locker is where an online order becomes a physical visit,” says Sultana Kadir, Modern Expo’s client solutions and partnerships manager.
Location is central to that opportunity. A collection point that fits into an existing shopping trip can offer convenience while bringing customers within reach of the store.
Making room for shared infrastructure
Kadir believes habit and access remain the UK’s main challenges in building locker use. She points to Poland and the Nordics as markets where collection is more established, and expects UK networks to become increasingly embedded in places people already visit.
“The next step for the UK is moving from separate, carrier-branded networks to shared infrastructure at locations people already visit, above all retail sites,” she says.
That’s her forecast for the market, but it raises a practical question for retailers considering an installation. That question is, how many different needs could it serve? A facility accommodating several carriers, customer returns and courier collections would have a different role from one restricted to a single delivery service.
With floor space at a premium during peak trading, that distinction matters. Retailers need to consider both the demand for each service and how it would fit into the store’s operation.
Choosing the technology the service needs
The same scrutiny should apply to the equipment itself. Modern Expo has exhibited lockers that keep perishables cold and food hot, but Matviiuk doesn’t argue that every food collection operation needs temperature control.
He sees a role for it where orders remain in compartments for hours. For the on-demand model the company is developing, however, he favours ambient lockers, putting the average wait for courier collection at 10 to 15 minutes.
Over that period, he argues, temperature control adds cost and complexity without changing the customer outcome. The appropriate specification will depend on the food involved and its handling requirements, making the collection process an important part of any purchasing decision.
Ambient equipment, he says, uses less energy, costs less to buy and run, and is easier to introduce across a large estate.
“Our job is to match the solution to the use case, not to over-engineer it,” adds Kadir.
Those decisions will become more significant if, as Matviiuk expects, retailers continue directing more fulfilment through their existing stores in 2027. He anticipates greater demand for automation, more shared last-mile infrastructure and closer scrutiny of floor space and energy use.
So, the investment case will rest on how well those installations perform beyond an individual trial. That includes whether they reduce the cost of handling orders, make collections more convenient and support additional store visits.
Peak season offers an immediate test, but if lockers can keep collections moving through December and help stores manage returns in January, they will have a stronger claim on the space they occupy.
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