Seoul’s Safe Parcel Service

About the city. Despite the fact that Seoul ranks eighth in the Safe Cities Index 2019 by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the city government is seeking to raise public safety.

Goal

The main goal is to help to reduce anxiety over the dangers of delivery service and prevent crime.

Implementation period. The project started in July 2013, but initially only the function of receiving parcels was available. On December 3, 2019, the function of sending parcels was added.

Fact

The security development program also includes the Ansimi app.

Solutions

Since 2013, Seoul Metropolitan Government has operated the Safe Parcel Service for Women, installing automatic lockers at subway stations and community service centres. The Safe Parcel Service for Women allows people to receive parcels through unmanned lockers installed near their houses without having to face strangers.

Those who want to use the service should download the app “CJ Logistics,” go to the “Unmanned Locker” menu to search for the closest locker, reserve a locker, and put the parcel in the reserved locker within two hours. If one fails to store the parcel in the locker within two hours of reserving it, the reservation is canceled automatically. The parcels that are stored before 3 p.m. on a weekday are collected on the same day and sent to the destination while the parcels registered on Sunday are collected the next Monday. The service is applicable for items that can be stored for more than two days and restricted for frozen- or cold-storage goods, money, jewellery, used items, etc.

As the Safe Parcel Service for Women was only available for use upon parcel reception, the city is now offering the “parcel sending service,” the first among local governments, in the cooperation with CJ Logistics. Additionally, Seoul has drastically improved the functions of the Safe Parcel Service for Women in order to resolve user inconvenience by changing the parcel arrival alert message from a short to a long message, developing a new app for confirming the arrival of parcels, and introducing a callback system for customer service.

The safe parcel sending service is available at 131 of 232 lockers (4,470 compartments). Users can check their locations on the CJ Logistics app. The service is free but parcel storage that exceeds 48 hours incurs a daily fee of KRW 1,000 afterwards.

Directions for Using the Lockers for Safe Parcel Service for Women

• Those who want to use the service must appoint a locker installed by the Safe Parcel Service for Women as the place to receive one’s parcel when ordering a delivery.

• Upon the delivery of the parcel to the locker, the date and time of the delivery, a message with the number of the parcel storage compartment, and a verification number will be sent to the receiver’s mobile phone.

• After receiving the parcel arrival alert (and the verification number), the user should visit the locker, open the door of the compartment, and receive the parcel by entering one’s phone number and the verification number.

• For all inquiries on how to use the Parcel Service, call +82-1899-4711.

Team

Seoul Metropolitan Government

Timeline

Since June 2013, two million people have used these lockers. Over the past six years, a total of 2.18 million individuals (accumulative) have used the service.

If you notice an error or inaccuracy in our editorials, please email [email protected] so we can look into it.