Inpost rolls out returnable packaging for e-commerce

InPost is the first firm on the Polish market to provide internet retailers with returnable packaging. It is made of recyclable materials and may be reused up to ten times. The first store to take advantage of the new solution is Modivo, the fashion e-commerce platform of eobuwie.pl (CCC group). Returnable packaging, among others, will considerably cut e-commerce logistics’ carbon impact.

The booming e-commerce segment, especially in times of the covid-19 pandemic, definitely comes with a range of undisputed benefits. However, packaging still remains that pebble in the shoe – last year alone, more than 640 million parcels were shipped in Poland, with even more to come this year. Spurred by the pandemic, the e-commerce market in Poland grew by a record 45% in 2020 and reached approximately 15% of the country’s retail sales, according to a new report from PMR. We project that e-commerce will account for more than 20% of retail sales already in 2023.

With the current growth of e-commerce market there is only one direction – logistics must be modern, efficient and even more ecological. Thus InPost introduced the first in Poland system of secondary packaging circulation in e-commerce. Packaging is sized according to the product being shipped, so that it does not carry air. After receiving the package it is enough to return it to the nearest parcel machine, and after a thorough cleaning it will be returned to circulation. According to the Gemius study, although 55% of surveyed Poles choose courier delivery to home or work, parcel machine delivery is still the most popular. This option is chosen by as many as 61% of respondents. The company’s extensive network of Paczkomaty (parcel machines) now counts 15,000.

The partnership with Modivo as the first player to use the solution is only natural, considering the recent CCC group’s announcement of the new strategy, which, among others, includes plans for the share of sales from online channels to increase from 45%, which was recorded in the third quarter of this year, to 60%. Inpost will soon announce the organizations and institutions with which it will cooperate in 2022.