The news: The Postal Service has launched Local XChange, a service that uses smart lockers at about 700 post offices to complete sales between buyers and sellers in the same area. It targets online marketplace transactions that normally end with two strangers meeting in a parking lot.
How it works: The seller prints a Local XChange label through Click-N-Ship and drops the package in a smart locker. The buyer gets a QR code and has five days to pick it up. Missed pickups move to the retail counter for another 10 days, then return to the seller.
A locker must sit within 50 miles of the seller’s return address. The price is $5.51 per package.
Why it matters: More than half of US post offices run at a loss, over $2.5 billion a year, Postmaster General David Steiner told the Senate. Local XChange generates new revenue from locker banks and counter space USPS already owns and staffs.
The service also gives USPS a foothold in locker-based pickup. Amazon already runs its own locker network and FedEx is expanding through an InPost stake in Europe. About 6% of US shoppers prefer locker delivery, versus 12% globally.
