Pickup points - A convenient delivery method for modern e-shops

📦 Pickup points — convenient delivery method for modern e-shops

Delivery to the point of delivery has become one of the most popular modes of transportation in recent years.
Customers pick up parcels when it suits them — without having to wait for a courier at home, and e-shops save money and time.
With application Shipdock for Shopify you can offer your customers the dispensing points of all major carriers — clearly in one place.

🏪 What are dispensaries

The delivery point is a partner store, establishment or automated box, where the customer can pick up the ordered goods.
This method of delivery is offered by virtually all carriers today — PPL, DPD, GLS, Packeta (Mail order) in Czech Post.

Dispensing points tend to be located in busy places:

• in supermarkets, traffic and petrol stations,
• upon offices and post offices,
• or in Self-service boxes with 24-hour access.

Thanks to the dense network of these places, the customer can choose the closest one — often within walking distance of home or work.

🌍 Types of dispensing points

In practice, there are three main types of dispensing points:

1. Partner dispensaries with attendants
   A classic brick-and-mortar store or service that takes shipments on behalf of the carrier.
   (e.g. PPL Parcelshop, DPD Pickup, Packed Z-Point)
2. Automated boxes (Parcelboxes, Z-Boxes, Parcel Boxes)
   Self-service dispensaries available 24/7, controlled via PIN or app.
3. Own branches of carriers
   Official locations of transport companies — e.g. post offices, depots, collection points.

Each carrier uses a combination of these types and often works with external partners to provide coverage even in smaller towns and municipalities.

🤝 Cooperation of carriers with external partners

Today's delivery networks are built on collaboration.
Carriers such as PPL, DPD, GLS, Packaged chi Czech Post Office (Balíkovna) take advantage of thousands of partner stores, traffic, gas stations and boxes throughout Europe.

For example:

• PPL cooperates with COOP, EuroOil and other trading networks.
• DPD utilizes DPD Pickup locations and boxes at stores and parking lots.
• Packed (Zásilkovna) has its own and partner points of sale in 30+ countries.
• Česká pošta — Balíkovna operates a combination of post offices, partners and boxes.

Thanks to this, it is now possible to deliver the parcel to the nearest point of delivery in virtually every municipality.

💡 Benefits of delivery to the point of delivery

Delivery to the delivery point brings benefits for the e-shop and the customer:

For customers:

• 🕐 flexibility — pick up at any time of the day, even outside working hours,
• 📍 availability — thousands of dispensing points throughout the Czech Republic and the EU,
• 💸 savings — often cheaper than delivery by courier to the address
• 🧾 simple return of the parcel.

For e-shops:

• ⚙️ less error rate in delivery,
• 🚀 faster delivery of parcels,
• 💰 lower shipping costs,
• 🔄 Possibility of automation in shipping via applications such as Shipdock.

🧩 Shipdock — Dispensing points of all carriers in one application

Applications Shipdock for Shopify, it allows e-shops to connect all important carriers and their points of delivery into one system.
The customer can choose the delivery location directly on the map in the cart or after completing the order.

Main features:

• 🗺️ Interactive map of dispensing points (PPL, DPD, GLS, Packeta, Balíkovna).
• 🧾 Automatic saving of the selected point in the order.
• 🖨️ Print shipping labels directly from your Shopify admin.
• 💸 Support cash on delivery (COD) as well as delivery to the address.
• 🔄 Full order synchronization and shipment tracking.

Thanks to Shipdock you have all the carriers and delivery methods in one application — clear and automated.

🌱 The future of dispensaries

The popularity of both dispensaries and boxes continues to grow.
E-shops and carriers are investing in expanding the network, improving availability and greener delivery.
In the coming years, most parcels are expected to be headed just to dispensing points and automatic boxes — because of speed, comfort and lower carbon footprint.

🚀 Add dispensaries to your e-shop

Offer customers freedom of choice.
Using the app Shipdock for Shopify, you simply activate delivery to the dispensaries of all major carriers.