Bob Box smart lockers pick up steam

Bob Group’s smart locker service — Bob Box — is proving popular among residents of South Africa’s townships, with six locker locations near informal settlements and plans to expand its network.

The group also has plans to launch a locker-to-locker service, which lets customers send packages from one Bob Box to another, in the near future.

“These lockers are definitely gaining popularity. The initial response has been very positive,” Bob Group head of shipping services, Anita Erasmus, told MyBroadband.

“While it’s still early to pinpoint the exact reasons, we believe it’s a combination of factors such as the convenience of having a pickup point close to where people live and work and the cost savings associated with using lockers for deliveries, which typically come with lower shipping rates.”

The service currently offers six locations near informal settlements in Johannesburg and Cape Town:

• Balfour Mall — Alexandra
• Norkem Corner — Tembisa
• Stoneridge Centre — Lethabong
• Tshwane Regional — Mamelodi
• Astron Airport City — Nyanga
• Capricorn — Coniston Park

Erasmus said Bob Group is exploring opportunities to launch similar sites in Durban.

She added that the company faced no significant challenges when rolling out its Bob Box smart lockers. It focused on locations in secure and safe places.

“Our objective is to provide accessible delivery and pickup options for people living in informal settlements while ensuring that these lockers are located in secure and safe spaces,” said Erasmus.

“We have also not encountered any security-related incidents at these locations, which is reassuring. This positive outcome is likely due to our careful planning, community engagement, and choosing secure and accessible sites for our lockers.”

She said the group is committed to maintaining safety and security at its locker locations.

Plans for the service include expanding to more locations and launching a locker-to-locker service.

“We are launching our locker-to-locker service, allowing individuals to send and receive packages directly from one Bob Box locker to another.,” said Erasmus.

“This new feature is expected to make our service even more versatile and user-friendly, particularly for individuals in townships and other areas across South Africa.”

“By offering this service, we aim to provide a more convenient, affordable, and reliable way for people to send and receive goods, thereby enhancing the overall utility of Bob Box for all users,” she added.

In December 2023, Bob Group managing director Andy Higgins told MyBroadband about the company’s plans to launch Bob Box, including offering the service to residents in South Africa’s informal settlements.

Higgins believes smart lockers can help increase e-commerce adoption in the country by making it accessible to more people.

“I really think that this can have a significant impact, especially in the informal areas where you going to be able to have your parcel delivered to a locker or pickup point rather than to a physical address,” he said.

The lockers are designed and manufactured locally, which enables Bob Box to customise them for the South African market. It is also far cheaper than importing them.

“Why should South Africa, a net exporter of steel, export steel to China only to have it shipped back after it has been bent and moulded into the desired shape?” he said.

A major requirement of the system was that the lockers couldn’t rely on external power due to load-shedding.

To achieve this, Bob Group chose Vodacom’s narrowband Internet of Things network (NB-IoT) for connectivity.

“We needed a solution that is low power consumption, and secondary to that, also has coverage in the areas where we will place them,” said Higgins.

He said the company hopes to expand the service to 150 locations by the end of 2024.