Advantages of Access Points

Like many people these days I have many roles to play during a typical day.  I have a young family, a fantastic job working from home and plenty of items that have either been out grown or that we have fallen out of love with, so I have a small eBay store where these things can find a new home.

I spend quite a lot a time online, and make the occasional (and sometimes not so occasional) purchases, you know what it’s like, some things are just too tempting to leave.  So I find deliveries going in one direction or the other are often in my thoughts.

My Consumer Experience

As a consumer, I find nothing quite as frustrating as waiting in for a delivery.  I have often dedicated the best part of a day to this curtain twitching activity.

But there are times in the day that you just can’t be confined to quarters, the school run, for example.  I try to play this one as tactically as possible – leaving at the last possible minute, then “persuading” my little darlings to hurry home at top speed with a promise of a small treat to eat when we arrive back.

I don’t know if you do the same, but if I have had to leave the house when I’m expecting a delivery, I find that as I get closer to the house I start a military like scan of each road and side roads in search of anything resembling a delivery van.   Then, having a warming sense of optimism when there’s no sign of van, only to reach the house, open the door and have that heart dropping feeling of disappointment when you see that small card lying on the door mat.  “Sorry we missed you…” Great!

And now for the hassle of rearranging the delivery, with the prospect of waiting in another day, or having to traipse all the way to the depot, which for me is the other side of town.  It’s far from ideal!

My Business Experience

The other side of the coin, sending parcels doesn’t come without it’s share of hanging around either.  I have an online account with my courier where I enter all the parcel details, print a label and book a collection.  The small bonus between sending and receiving  parcels is that when I book the collection I can ask whether the pick-up can be made after the school run and often it can - which is great, but then after that time the waiting game begins AGAIN! 

Using Access Points

Well, all this is set to change for me, I’m taking back control of MY time!  I have recently found out about parcel access points.  These are ordinary shops, often convenience stores, where you can drop parcels you are sending off, and have parcels for you sent to allowing you the freedom to choose when you pick up or drop of a parcel. 

You can go to these shops at any time during opening hours and drop off or collect a parcel.

From what I gather you need to double check what time you are dropping off a parcel, as there are cut off times for sending items, but once you know the timings you can plan your time accordingly.  When collecting items you will need to show two forms of ID, so you have peace of mind from a security point of view.  These access points are growing in number rapidly, so there is bound to be convenient locations for most of us.

I’m certainly going to use these access points in the future, and will spread the word to my ebay customers too.

So as far as I’m concerned, waiting in for deliveries is a thing of the past. I feel liberated!