E-commerce looks digital until the parcel has to reach a front door.
That final journey is called the last mile, and in a dense city it can be one of the most expensive and operationally difficult parts of the delivery chain.
Did you know that Singapore’s nationwide Pick parcel-locker network now has around 1,000 locker stations across housing estates, community clubs and transport nodes, designed as open-access infrastructure for logistics providers?
This article targets last mile delivery Singapore, parcel locker Singapore, urban logistics Singapore, courier Singapore and Pick Network Singapore.
Official information was checked on 4 October 2026. Worked examples are fictional.
Did You Know? Singapore Built a Nationwide Open-Access Parcel Locker Network
IMDA describes Pick Network as an islandwide parcel-locker system with around 1,000 locker stations located near HDB estates, community clubs, MRT stations and bus interchanges.
The network is operated by Pick Network Pte Ltd, a wholly owned IMDA subsidiary, and is designed for fair and open access by logistics service providers.
Official reference: IMDA — Pick Network.
The Last Mile Is Expensive Because Addresses Are Fragmented
A truck can move thousands of parcels between warehouses efficiently.
The final delivery is different.
One parcel may go to Block 123, another to Block 456 and another to a condominium several kilometres away.
The vehicle repeatedly stops, parks and restarts.
Last-mile economics are dominated by fragmentation.
Parcel Lockers Aggregate Demand
A delivery driver can drop many parcels at one locker station instead of visiting many individual doors.
Consumers collect parcels when convenient.
The network reduces failed deliveries because the parcel does not depend on the customer being home.
Aggregation turns many destinations into fewer logistics nodes.
Worked Example: One Locker Stop Replaces Ten Door Stops
Imagine a courier has ten parcels for one estate.
Door-to-door delivery takes four minutes per stop plus walking and parking.
If all ten parcels can be deposited at one locker station in fifteen minutes, a large amount of route time is released.
The exact saving depends on locker availability, walking distance and customer adoption.
Pick Lockers Are Designed to Be Close to Homes
IMDA describes the nationwide network as placing lockers in heartland locations around five minutes from home, with 24/7 access.
Official reference: IMDA — Pick Network.
Convenience matters because consumers will not choose a collection point that creates more effort than doorstep delivery.
The Locker Network Is Public Infrastructure, Not a Courier Company
MDDI has explained that Pick was established as a neutral infrastructure provider rather than a parcel-delivery competitor.
Its role is to own and operate the locker network so different delivery-service providers can use the same physical infrastructure.
Official reference: MDDI — Postal Services Amendment Bill Speech.
That neutrality allows one network to serve many courier companies.
Open Access Improves Asset Utilisation
If every courier installed its own locker at the same estate, many compartments could sit empty.
A shared network can pool capacity across providers.
Higher utilisation improves the economics of each locker location.
The infrastructure becomes more useful because competitors share it.
Interoperability Is a Software Problem
IMDA’s Federated Locker and Collection Points Programme uses standardised data exchange so multiple operators, marketplaces and logistics providers can interact with a common network.
Official reference: IMDA — Federated Locker and Collection Points Programme.
The parcel compartment is physical.
Reservation, availability and handover are digital.
Locker Utilisation Has Grown Sharply
URA reported that Pick parcel lockers went from fewer than 100 parcel movements per day around the network’s 2021 launch to more than 20,000 parcels per day in 2024.
Official reference: URA — Delivering into the Future.
Adoption matters because infrastructure creates little value if consumers and couriers ignore it.
URA Reports More Than 270,000 kg of CO₂ Savings a Year
URA also reports that the use of Pick lockers has resulted in more than 270,000 kg of CO₂ emissions saved yearly by reducing repeated and fragmented delivery trips.
Official reference: URA — Parcel Locker Outcomes.
The figure links logistics productivity with urban sustainability.
Courier Hubs Reduce Vehicle Circulation Inside Estates
URA piloted courier hubs in HDB multi-storey car parks where logistics companies unload, sort and dispatch parcels to walkers who complete nearby deliveries on foot.
The scheme was formalised in September 2024.
Official reference: URA — Courier Hubs.
The van handles trunk movement.
The walker handles dense local distribution.
Worked Example: Vehicle Kilometres Can Fall Even If Parcel Volume Rises
Imagine parcel demand rises 20%.
If lockers and courier hubs let each delivery vehicle carry more parcels per stop, vehicle trips may rise by much less than 20%.
Productivity comes from changing the geometry of delivery.
Urban logistics can grow without road traffic growing proportionally.
Autonomous Mobile Robots Add Another Last-Metre Option
URA has described trials in Punggol using autonomous mobile robots for parcel and grocery delivery within and between buildings.
Official reference: URA — Better and More Efficient Delivery.
Robots can move goods over short distances where vans are inefficient.
The final metres become a robotics problem.
Dark Stores and Micro-Fulfilment Reduce Distance
Online retailers can position inventory closer to customers in non-retail fulfilment spaces.
Shorter delivery distances support faster grocery and parcel services.
URA’s long-term planning material recognises such urban-logistics spaces as part of future delivery infrastructure.
The warehouse moves closer to demand.
Last-Mile Logistics Connects to Warehouse Automation
A highly automated warehouse still creates limited value if the final parcel sits in a delivery van for hours.
See Making Singapore Rich | Warehouse Automation, ASRS and Fulfilment Technology.
Fulfilment and delivery form one end-to-end system.
Route Optimisation Turns Addresses Into a Mathematical Problem
A courier wants to minimise driving time while respecting delivery windows, vehicle capacity and traffic conditions.
The problem resembles the classic vehicle-routing problem.
Software can continuously reorder stops as demand changes.
The route becomes an optimisation product.
Worked Example: Sequence Matters
Imagine five parcels lie along one road.
A driver visiting them in random order may repeatedly backtrack.
A route optimiser sequences stops geographically and by time window.
The vehicle travels less without carrying fewer parcels.
Software creates physical productivity.
Delivery Data Improves Urban Planning
Locker utilisation, parcel demand and courier flow can reveal which neighbourhoods need more collection capacity.
Public datasets now include Nationwide Parcel Locker Utilisation data with regular updates.
Official reference: DataHive — Nationwide Parcel Locker Utilisation.
Infrastructure planning becomes evidence-based.
Failed Delivery Is Pure Logistics Waste
A delivery attempt that finds nobody home consumes driver time, fuel and road capacity without completing the transaction.
Lockers and collection points reduce this failure mode.
The consumer gains convenience and the courier gains route certainty.
Reliability can be more valuable than maximum speed.
Returns Are Part of E-Commerce Logistics
Online shopping creates reverse logistics when customers return products.
Parcel lockers can support returns as well as deliveries.
The same network therefore handles goods moving in both directions.
A mature fulfilment system plans reverse flow from the start.
The Risk: Lockers Can Become Full
A locker network has finite compartments.
Peak shopping seasons can create congestion.
Couriers may make reservations and still need alternative arrangements if capacity is unavailable.
Infrastructure needs both coverage and active capacity management.
The Risk: Consumer Delay Reduces Locker Throughput
A parcel sitting in a locker for three days prevents another parcel from using the compartment.
Notifications, collection incentives and compartment sizing can affect network utilisation.
The consumer is part of the logistics system.
The Risk: Convenience Can Increase E-Commerce Volume
Making delivery easier can encourage more online shopping.
That may increase packaging and transport demand even if each parcel is delivered more efficiently.
Per-parcel efficiency and total system impact are different measures.
The Risk: Robotics Needs Safe Public-Space Integration
Autonomous delivery robots share paths with pedestrians, wheelchairs, bicycles and children.
Technical capability alone does not settle right-of-way, accessibility and safety questions.
Urban robotics needs social and regulatory integration.
Urban Freight Connects to E-Commerce
E-commerce creates parcel demand.
Urban logistics converts that demand into physical delivery.
See Making Singapore Rich | Retail, E-Commerce and the Consumer Economy.
Digital retail cannot exist without physical fulfilment.
Urban Freight Connects to Public Transport and Streets
Delivery vehicles compete for kerb space and road capacity with buses, cars and pedestrians.
Consolidated lockers and courier hubs can reduce unnecessary vehicle circulation.
Urban logistics is therefore a transport-planning issue as well as a commercial one.
Education Builds Logistics Capability
The sector needs operations researchers, software developers, warehouse planners, couriers, robotics engineers and urban planners.
Students can learn optimisation, ratios and network design through delivery examples.
See Making Singapore Rich | Education, Skills and Human Capital.
A Guided Classroom Investigation
Give students ten fictional delivery addresses and one locker station.
Ask them to compare total travel if every parcel goes door-to-door versus seven parcels going to the locker.
The exercise teaches aggregation.
Independent Practice: Faster or Fewer Stops?
A fictional courier can buy faster vans or invest in a locker network that cuts stops by 30%.
Which creates more productivity?
Students should identify traffic, parcel density, failed deliveries and utilisation.
The learning goal is process redesign.
What Progress Should Look Like
A stronger last-mile economy should increase delivery density, reduce failed attempts, improve locker utilisation, expand courier hubs and integrate routing software and robotics without making streets more congested.
A stronger learner should distinguish parcel volume from vehicle trips, delivery speed from delivery productivity and network size from network utilisation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Pick locker stations are there?
IMDA describes a nationwide network of around 1,000 locker stations across Singapore.
Who operates Pick Network?
Pick Network Pte Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of IMDA and operates the nationwide parcel locker network as neutral open-access infrastructure.
How many parcels use the lockers?
URA reported more than 20,000 parcels per day in 2024, up from fewer than 100 per day around the 2021 launch.
What are courier hubs?
They are local consolidation points where parcels are unloaded and sorted before walkers complete nearby deliveries, reducing vehicle circulation inside estates.
How does last-mile logistics make Singapore richer?
It lowers the cost and traffic burden of e-commerce fulfilment while creating logistics-software, parcel-infrastructure, routing and robotics capabilities.
Helpful Reading and Singapore Graph Connections
- IMDA — Pick Network
- IMDA — Federated Locker and Collection Points Programme
- URA — Delivering into the Future
- Making Singapore Rich | Warehouse Automation, ASRS and Fulfilment Technology
- Making Singapore Rich | Logistics, Warehousing and Supply Chains
Making Singapore Rich: Make the Final Kilometre Behave Like Infrastructure
Did you know that one parcel locker can change the economics of an entire neighbourhood delivery route?
Warehouses consolidate upstream.
Lockers consolidate downstream.
Software chooses the route.
Robots may handle the final metres.
Singapore becomes richer when e-commerce delivery scales without multiplying traffic at the same rate.
The online order creates the demand.
Urban logistics turns that demand into a parcel in the right place.