Fitting rooms for parcels with clothes… at the post office

What if you try on clothes you bought online at the post office? In order to diversify the activities of postal enterprises, four post offices now have fitting rooms for customers coming to collect parcels.

The initiative was announced by the group at the end of 2022: then called “parcel stations”, they were to be tested in 2023 in certain offices, “to allow customers to open their parcel, check the suitability of their purchases, leave the packaging.” so that they can be recycled, try on clothes bought online in the fitting room and manage the return of parcels,” the post office then said.

Unpacking, trying on and returning or recycling to the post office.

The experiment began at the end of November, La Poste Le Parisien newspaper confirmed. We are talking about four sites: the Paris Military School, Paris Trinité, Lannion (Côtes-d’Armor) and La Rochelle Hôtel de Ville (Charente-Maritime). Four other post offices are also due to start the experiment by spring 2024 in Valenciennes (North), Bordeaux (Gironde), Saint-Etienne (Loire) and Amiens (Somme).

The cabins, which are accessible to people with reduced mobility, were designed to be linked to a letterbox, “for a wink,” the postal group says. In an area dedicated to unpacking packages, shoppers can open boxes of their purchases and try them on if they are ready to wear, or check whether they are electronic products, such as whether they have access to power outlets.

If they are satisfied, the post office will even take care of returning the packaging for recycling. In case of dissatisfaction, customers also have the option to print a free return label and leave the package directly at the post office. “The first review is positive,” noted the postal group.

A device that is not unanimously accepted by traders

An initiative that did not please some traders, reports TF1Info. “Independent traders keep town centers vital. If we want to ensure that there are no more shops in urban centers, we will continue in this direction,” Pierre Talamont, trader and member of the Clothing Federation, explained to our colleagues.

When asked about the criticism, La Poste recalled that “e-commerce is a major trend.” “This is a service we have developed to meet consumer expectations; We are not online stores. The purpose of these spaces is to support and simplify the lives of our customers who are already shopping online,” we clarify.