PayPoint CollectPlus sites offering Royal Mail services has now hit more than 700 convenience stores around the UK.

In February, Better Retailing reported that 5,000 PayPoint sites will gain Royal Mail parcel pick up and drop off services by the summer. In the future, the service will be expanded to enable customers to collect online purchases.

The agreement marks Royal Mail’s first new retail network partnership since it moved away from exclusivity with the Post Office in 2020. While the move is a win for PayPoint CollectPlus stores, it is likely to further damage parcel remuneration payments and footfall for Post Office retailers.

 Nick Wiles, CEO of PayPoint, said: “Today marks an important step in the roll-out of our Royal Mail partnership, with customers now officially able to use Collect+ on a nationwide basis across the UK. We have a number of activities planned for the coming year to promote this service and invest in its success as part of our out-of-home network offering.

 “We know that people today want as many options as possible to make their lives more convenient, which is why we continue to provide our retailer partners with additional services and market leading brands that drive footfall and generate commissions. In doing so their businesses are set-up for success to grow, as well as remain essential access points for the day-to-day services local communities rely on.”

UPDATED: 5,000 PayPoint sites to gain Royal Mail parcel pick up and drop off services

Royal Mail customers are able to drop off packages up to large parcel size using 1st and 2nd class and Tracked 24 and Tracked 48. This applies to both returns and items that someone has paid for the postage for online and either printed a label or generated a QR code.

The locations can be found on the services for you section of the Royal Mail website.

Nick Landon, chief commercial officer at Royal Mail, said: “By giving our customers access to the Collect+ network we are significantly increasing the number of locations where they can drop off parcels and giving them more options to do so during weekends and evenings.

“This helps us meet demand from the growing number of customers who pay for parcel postage online and is one of the ways we’re continuing to make sending and receiving parcels as convenient as possible by giving customers greater choice.”

Joshua James, store owner, Fresh and Proper, Fordham, Cambridgeshire, said: “We were very excited by the news that Royal Mail and PayPoint were partnering and to be one of the first locations offering the service to the local community is brilliant. We are already seeing interest among our usual shoppers and expect the service to increase our footfall as more people locally begin to use us for drop offs. We are also enjoying getting to know our local postie thanks to their collections.”

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