Osta.ee has launched the Pakiportaal.osta.ee, where parcels can be sent securely. In addition, it is possible to choose the most suitable and cheapest service provider and make payment for the parcel when collecting.
Kristiana Põld, the portal manager of Osta.ee, explained that the Pakiportaal.osta.ee environment brings together important information about the parcel machines of the three service providers (Venipak, Omniva and Itella): parcel locker dimensions, locations, shipment costs, shipment formalisation and tracking. “”For Osta.ee, secure shopping has been a focus all along. When creating the parcel portal, we took into account the needs of our customers to send products to each other conveniently, securely and with the possibility to pay for the transport on delivery. This allows to avoid possible scams, where one must pay for the transport via some dubious link, fall victim to fraudsters and lose huge sums of money,” said Põld.
Põld added that nearly 150 000 transactions are carried out on Osta.ee every month, of which nearly half are shipped through parcel machines. “By mapping our customers’ behavioural patterns and looking for solutions to them, we were able to understand what their main wishes and needs are when using parcel machines. One of the concerns has been comparing the size of parcel lockers – there can be a problem when sending if the wrong locker size is indicated in the sales ad. The parcel portal makes it easy to compare the dimensions of lockers. In this way, it is possible to make the best and most economical choice, and thus save on locker capacity,” explained Põld.
Helps to lower fraud rates and find the most affordable service provider
According to Martten Kaldvee, Head of Sales at Venipak Estonia, such package portal is extremely necessary and useful for consumers. “The implementation of the parcel portal will make parcel delivery even more user-friendly, but also safer. It is a great value for the consumer that important information about the location of parcel machines, the size of the lockers and the prices are all in one place and that they do not have to go to the service providers’ own websites to send their parcels. In addition, the parcel portal will help to reduce fraud, which parcel delivery companies have also been facing: there is no need to click on unfamiliar links and the package can be paid for when you pick up the shipment,” explained Kaldvee.
Kaldvee added that the comparison of prices is also a big plus. “In more difficult economic times, people are looking for savings everywhere. Therefore, it is good that the parcel portal shows the prices for parcel deliveries from different service providers. In this way, consumers can choose the one that suits them best, depending on their own preferences: who prefers the most economical price, who appreciates the possibility of having a parcel delivered as close as possible to their home or place of work. Venipak, for example, offers some of the best prices on the market and has a wide network of 160 machines, which will expand by another 30 this year. In addition, we will be installing 50 additional dispensers,” Kaldvee highlighted.
Põld pointed out that the Pakiportaal.osta.ee portal was created with the aim of implementing it elsewhere, in addition to the Osta.ee environment. “We are about to start a cooperation with Kuldne Börs, so that their customers can also use the services of Pakiportaal conveniently,” she explained.