Parcel pick-up locker company InPost Canada has just announced two new consumer shipping solutions for Canadians -- one called 'Virtual Address', and the other called 'Locker to Locker'. Both are being introduced ahead of the busy winter holiday season.

InPost describes 'Virtual Address' as a service that allows consumers to choose an InPost Locker as one's ship-to address for any e-commerce retailer, while the 'Locker to Locker' service allows consumers to send a parcel from one InPost locker to any other InPost locker in its network.

The Virtual Address service is designed to be simple to use. Consumers may set up an account and select the InPost Locker where they'd like to receive deliveries, and InPost will provide them with their very own Virtual Address. From then on, consumers can use their Virtual Address in place of their shipping address for deliveries, and InPost will receive the parcel on the consumer's behalf and deliver it to the InPost Locker of their choice. As soon as the item arrives in the locker, the consumer is notified via email and text message that their delivery is waiting for them with pickup available 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

The 'Locker to Locker' service is also designed for simplicity. All one has to do is select the “send a parcel” link on InPost's website, choose the locker where one wants to drop off the parcel, and select the destination locker. Once done, the sending party prints a label and may drop off the parcel at any time. InPost will deliver the parcel to the destination locker, and it will wait for it to be picked up for up to three days.

These initiatives are designed to allow consumers to control all of their parcel deliveries from any e-commerce retailer, family and friends, just in time for the holidays. InPost is offering the first parcel for free to interested parties.

The InPost parcel-locker network is the largest international network of automated parcel lockers in the world, making it easy to send and receive parcels 24/7. They are located in convenient places such as grocery stores, gas stations and transit hubs. This customized solution is already present in more than a dozen countries, including: Australia, Chile, Columbia, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Slovakia. Currently, there are more than 4,500 parcel lockers based on InPost technology located worldwide.

Canadian Retail News From Around The Web: November 2, 2016