The smart locker is becoming more and more popular, but few people are very clear about its business model. At present, there are two main foreign business models. One is a European and American model, mainly served by express carriers. There have been some third-party companies, like InPost, but not all of them have a very clear profit model, and they are used as a service tool like the ATM. The second is a Japanese and Korean model, paid for mainly by property developers; owners pay 5 cents per square, about RMB 5 per month per household. In principle, those who benefit are those who pay.

The four beneficiaries

With the emergence of the smart smart locker, there are four beneficiaries, namely, e-commerce companies, courier companies, real estate companies, and individual consumers. Smart lockers help e-commerce companies to sell more products, express service companies to save more time, real estate companies to save more labor, and individual consumers to have more free time. But the possibility of co-financing from the above four companies is small, so there are 4 kinds of smart locker business models in China.

The former is invested by e-commerce companies, such as JD, Amazon, JustEasy, Suzhou Fresh Market, etc. The second is the express company, mainly China Post, SF. The third is the third-party operating company, mainly Spoter, FUbox, Manybo. The fourth is a property management company. The first three types can be divided into European and American models; the room can be divided into the Japanese and South Korean model.

Who benefits?

The European and American profit model is relatively diverse and complex. The Japanese and Korean model is simple and straightforward. It is hard to say which model will ultimately win out in China, whether it will be the European and American model or the Japanese and South Korean model. Consumers ultimately foot the bill. Whether express companies or real estate companies can join or not, we currently cannot see clearly into the smart locker market. If the third-party company can benefit, the express company and the real estate company will benefit more easily.

The history of the smart locker in Japan is almost 30 years, during which both the express company and the third-party company tried, but ultimately did not survive, because the smart locker needs good operation and maintenance service. In Japan, it is entirely up to the developer to purchase the smart locker and the owners to pay more property charges to cover the operation and maintenance costs. In China, it is difficult to say that we have this sense of service, but it is unreasonable that the courier company does not fully pay any fees as the recipient.