Electronics giants Panasonic have made a move into the parcel locker market with the introduction of its Smartlocker solution.

The Panasonic Smartlocker parcel lockers are aimed at the European market where there is strong and growing demand for the machines thanks to their convenience for the customer and for carriers, lower missed delivery rates.

The Smartlocker system is designed to be modular with four temperature lockers available – ambient, chilled, freezer and heated. Using Panasonic Vacuumed Insulated Panel (VIP) technology it maintains the ideal temperatures in the locker while minimising energy use in maintaining those temperatures.

They can be installed indoors and outdoors and are available in 6, 8, 10 or 12 locker units. The units can be used as a standalone system or connected via the cloud to order management systems.They are GDPR compliant and can allow operators to verify access to the lockers to include pick-up and drop-off times.

“Panasonic Smartlockers are already a familiar site in countries across the Asia Pacific region and will be a solution welcomed by European operators and consumers alike,” said Edin Osmanovic, at Panasonic Business & Industry Solutions. “The temperature regulated lockers and the ability to easily scale and integrate the solution with other order management and ecommerce applications, makes it the ideal system for retailers to build and then grow their delivery offering.”

There are established players in the parcel locker market including Scandinavian SwipBox and UK based InPost, the latter which has recently had an IPO. Though the market is not crowded, it is interesting that a well established electronics giant is moving into it – a sign perhaps that the market is maturing.