Chinese courier ZTO Express (NYSE: ZTO) has acquired 30,000 smart lockers at about RMB 6,000 to 7,000 (USD 856 to 1,000) each set from Ririshun Lejia, a subsidiary of home appliance giant Haier, Chinese media outlet Jiemian reported on Wednesday.
Before this deal, Ririshun Lejia, founded in April 2015 in Qingdao, owned smart lockers and convenience stores in 60,000 neighbourhoods in 96 cities, according to its website.
In 2019, 10% of the 60 billion parcels delivered that year were first dropped off into smart lockers by couriers to be picked up by their owners, who use passwords or scan QR-codes to access the boxes, according to Jiemian.
The acquisition is part of ZTO’s plan to build last-mile infrastructure for delivery. ZTO’s rival, Yunda, has built 50,000 sets of smart lockers by the end of June while STO, another logistics company, has also started building its own smart locker network.
This article is part of KrASIA’s “China Brief” section, where KrASIA’s reporters will provide quick daily updates about the tech ecosystem in China.