Out of home: the trend taking deliveries and returns by storm

16 February 2026

Just as the streaming giants like Netflix have transformed how most of us watch TV – what we want, when we want it – there’s a similar shift underway in deliveries and returns.

Today’s consumer wants to collect deliveries and drop off returns when they want (because shopping shouldn’t require staying home from 9-5!) and where they want.

To be more like Netflix and less like Blockbuster Video (gone but not forgotten), small and medium sized retailers need to get ahead of this trend and make the most of “out of home”. Read on to find out how and why.
 

Why is out of home so important?

Like the name suggests, out of home means delivery to (or return from) a location other than a house, like a convenience shop or parcel locker.

Out of home might seem like a relatively new thing, but we’re actually lagging behind our European counterparts for its adoption. Out of home delivery is already the most common method in the Nordics¹, for example.

And yes, delivery to the home is still preferred by most UK consumers (76%)², but things are starting to change…

86% of consumers find it frustrating to miss a delivery when they aren’t at home to receive it². 88% of people have experienced this issue, with 28% saying it happens ‘frequently’ and 9% saying it happens ‘all the time’². That’s a lot of unhappy customers.

 
Maybe that’s why 62% of UK shoppers have opted to have parcels delivered to lockers and/or convenience shops… rising to 77% of 18-29 year olds².

In fact, 58% of UK consumers said they’d be more likely to buy from a retailer if they offered out of home options, rising to 68% of 18-29 year olds and 70% of 30-44 year olds2. So if either of those demographics are your business’ target audience, it’s seriously worth considering.
 

What about out of home returns?

 
Particularly as age plays a role in shaping preferences: older shoppers favour returning via the Post Office, while younger generations prefer lockers³.

In fact, returns software provider ZigZag warns that “retailers who are not offering the ‘big four’ returns methods – Post Office, locker, home collection, and convenience store drop offs – risk frustrating customers”³.

So as a small to medium sized business, to attract the widest possible audience and keep up to date with changing consumer needs, you need to be offering a wide range of delivery and returns options… including out of home. The good news is that, with the right delivery partner, adding these options into your mix can be quick and easy.
 

How do I choose the right out of home partner?

Here’s a handy checklist to use when selecting a carrier to help you offer out of home deliveries and returns:

• Do they offer a wide range of delivery and returns channels, including lockers, convenience shops and home collection?
• Do they have a high number of these points across the UK?
• Can these out of home deliveries and returns be tracked?
• Is out of home a standard part of the offering or an additional opt-in?
• Are they actively growing their out of home network to help future-proof your business?

With Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide, you can easily offer quick and trackable out of home deliveries to thousands of Parcel Lockers, Royal Mail Shop locations, Royal Mail Customer Service Points and Post Offices. And our network is still growing!

And with Royal Mail Tracked Returns^®, your consumers can return at over 130,000 locations as standard (that’s the largest returns network in the UK) – including Parcel Lockers, Royal Mail Shop locations, Royal Mail Customer Service Points, Parcel Drop-boxes, Postboxes and Post Office branches. Our posties will even pick up returns from customers’ doorsteps with Parcel Collect!

Find out more at royalmail.com/deliverreturns

Footnotes

¹ “E-commerce in the Nordics”, PostNord (2024)
² Royal Mail Out of Home Survey, 2025
³ ZigZag Returns Benchmark 2025