Forget AI and robots:lockers are the future

Nicole has found the secret to productivity, and it has nothing to do with advanced technology. It's all about one simple innovation in sending parcels

- Nicole Kobie

I have watched cars flying, taken a ride in a driverless taxi and crossed the Firth of Forth on an automated bus - but the innovation I’m most impressed with is app-connected delivery lockers.

If you're not familiar with these genius inventions, they're huge metal boxes from a company called InPost. You'll find them tucked away near shops and in car parks, covered in little doors with a scanner and screen on the front. Need to pick something up? Scan a QR code, a door pops open and there, as if by magic, is your parcel. Sending a parcel is even better - you don't even need to print a label.

Amazon has similar lockers that connect to your phone via Bluetooth, the door swinging open as if the machine was expecting you. You get cheaper or even free shipping when using an Amazon locker for deliveries.

Royal Mail is planning something similar, with solar-powered, barcode-scanning red pillar boxes featuring a hatch that pops open to accept parcels. Part of the organisation’s plans to nab a slice of parcel post that’s risen along with online shopping and second-hand selling, it’s a marvellous remake of a classic design. Though only five boxes are currently being trialled, fingers crossed that they work well enough to be rolled out more widely.