Japan Post Co. and e-commerce giant Rakuten Inc. are teaming up to offer lockers where customers can pick up items purchased online at their own convenience, sources said Thursday.
The new service, being arranged to start in April at about 30 locations including post offices in Tokyo, will allow clients of the major Internet mall to have items delivered without revealing their addresses.
The two firms will consider adding locations across Japan after the limited launch, the sources said.
The service will apply only to Japan Post's Yu-Pack parcel delivery system, with the same fees as the home delivery version. The lockers will likely keep parcels for three days. Customers will be given one-time passwords to open them.
The mail delivery unit of Japan Post Holding Co. hopes the service will help increase the use of Yu-Pack parcels and cut costs by reducing missed deliveries.