0:00 / 0:00
Success Story
Evri scales its out-of-home delivery network of 7,000 shops with dependable, sustainable Zebra technology
Evri wanted to equip thousands of out-of-home (OOH) delivery points with secure, dependable self-service kiosks to support rapid growth and protect customer experience as legacy technology reached end-of-life.
Zebra Success Story: Evri
Overview: Transportation and Logistics Challenge
As a leading UK parcel delivery company, Evri has built one of the country’s most extensive OOH delivery networks, with ParcelShops based in 7,000+ locations across the UK. When Evri’s in-store self-service kiosks used by customers to send, return or collect parcels became outdated, the need for a modern replacement was clear.
Benefits / Outcomes
- ~99% reduction in kiosk outages
- 66% more labels per roll with linerless media
- Reduction in downtime to a single day with next-day swap-outs
- Faster, smoother customer experience with enhanced scanning performance
- Future-ready platform
Customer
Evri
United Kingdom
Industry
Transportation and Logistics
Solutions
About Evri
Doorstep delivery is no longer the default for many shoppers. As hybrid work, crowded schedules, and rising delivery fees reshape expectations, waiting at home for a parcel can feel more burdensome than convenient. Showing strong year-on-year growth, the Europe out-of-home-delivery market size is expected to double between 2025 and 2030, according to a market analysis by Mordor Intelligence.
Evri recognised this shift early. As a leading UK parcel delivery company, it has built one of the country’s most extensive OOH delivery networks, with ParcelShops based in 7,000+ locations across the UK, and 24/7 accessible Lockers. Working with over 80% of the UK’s top retailers, Evri now handles over 900 million parcels a year, all guided by a simple mission: to deliver responsibly and make sending, receiving, and returning parcels as easy as possible for everyone, everywhere.
The Challenge
Technology has always been central to this mission. “We invest heavily every year to stay ahead,” says Paul Tate, Senior IT Service Delivery Manager at Evri. “Our IT team is constantly looking at the latest innovations and risks, and we won’t roll out anything that isn’t secure for our customers or our people.”
When Evri’s in-store self-service kiosks used by customers to send, return or collect parcels became outdated, the need for a modern replacement was clear. “Devices were failing regularly, and it was a struggle to repair them or even source parts,” Tate explains. And when a kiosk was down, customers could easily switch to a competitor, putting revenue at risk.
Evri had a list of requirements for its new self-service kiosk devices: the screen had to be adjustable for users of different heights while the interface would be intuitive. The housing needed to prevent rust and withstand constant movement, and its internal components had to meet strict safety standards like having no sharp edges. Finally, the company wanted the supplier to offer long-term technology support.
This proved more challenging than the team thought. “There wasn’t anyone offering a modern hardware solution that matched what we needed. Most options were consumer-style kiosks, focused on basic receipt printing,” Tate explains. “At the time we were already engaging with Zebra for some managed service and other hardware initiatives, and so we asked them for a conceptual design. They quickly came back with a kiosk solution bringing together Zebra’s ET45 Tablets, ZD621 Desktop Printers, and a custom-built housing unit,” says Thomas Weaver, IT Procurement Manager at Evri.
Zebra technology allows us to expand our out-of-home network quickly and as needed. It’s also helped us win major deals with large UK retailers—rolling out the kiosks across all their stores, something we couldn’t have done with the old terminals.
The Solution
As legacy kiosks were failing faster than they could be repaired, causing gaps in service and putting parcel volumes at risk, Evri had to move fast. Working closely with Zebra, the team mapped out an accelerated timeline: rapid concept development, two quick prototype cycles, and a series of tightly run pilots to validate design and usability. “Zebra helped us shape the product around our expectations and our customers’ expectations. And we were involved in the design and development, which was fantastic,” Weaver adds. Once the final design was approved, the team began the rollout in phases—starting with a small batch to stabilise the most urgent locations, then expanding across the wider ParcelShop network, and eventually rolling out about 300 devices per week.
Each ET45 tablet connects to Evri’s network through a 5G SIM and secure virtual private network (VPN), running the company’s internal app on Zebra hardware. For customers, the experience feels familiar while being more intuitive, quicker, and more reliable. The move to laser scanning has also solved a long-standing issue with the old camera-based units, which often forced people to angle and adjust parcels to get a read. Now, a red laser line appears, and the parcel scans immediately. “With everything integrated into one customised unit, it’s become a true one-stop shop for our customers,” Weaver observes.
Meanwhile, Zebra manages the entire lifecycle of the devices—from assembling, commissioning, and testing them to shipping and installing each unit in-store. “Ongoing support is covered through Zebra’s Fasttrack service, which ensures that if a terminal ever fails, a replacement arrives the very next morning,” Tate notes. If a ParcelShop needs help or training, Zebra’s service desk guides staff through troubleshooting step by step. “We have a great relationship with Zebra,” he adds. “We operate as one team across both companies to deliver these solutions and we work with them hour to hour. They’re not just a supplier, but a true collaborator, which is just what we wanted.”
The Zebra Difference: Outcome and Benefits
The new self-service kiosks are significantly more reliable. “With our older devices, timescales for repair or replacement often varied. However, now we might see fewer than 10 shops a week with just a single day of downtime while a device is swapped,” shares Tate.
Less downtime means fewer disruptions for customers, making them less likely to choose a competitor and helping safeguard revenue. With people able to send and collect parcels through the network more easily, customer satisfaction has also improved.
Evri has also reduced its carbon footprint, thanks in large part to switching to Zebra’s ZeroLiner linerless printing solution. On the old kiosks, wax-backed liner paper piled up quickly—and all of it went straight to landfill. Linerless rolls remove that waste entirely and last much longer, with about 66% more labels per rolls, reducing deliveries and lowering emissions. The experience is cleaner for customers too, with no loose backing sheets left behind.
Crucially, the new setup is built to scale. “Zebra technology allows us to expand our out-of-home network quickly and as needed,” Tate explains. “It’s also helped us win major deals with large UK retailers—rolling out the kiosks across all their stores, something we couldn’t have done with the old terminals.” In the past 18 months alone, Evri has added around 1,700 new locations, with plans to keep growing fast. The result is higher parcel volumes and more convenient access points for customers. “We’re ready for whatever comes next,” Tate adds.
The company is updating its kiosk application with new features to support future growth. With an ambitious goal of handling over a billion parcels a year, Evri is on the right track. “As the industry shifts toward out-of-home and consumer-to-consumer delivery, reliable technology becomes the pillar everything sits on,” says Weaver. “Our ParcelShops, powered by Zebra technology, give us the foundation to serve customers the way they want to be served—conveniently, sustainably, and at scale.”
Featured Products and Solutions
