Xiaomi is adding a nifty new way for you to collect parcels from the purchases made on its official e-commerce platform — through smart delivery kiosks. The OEM has partnered with Smartbox, an India-based which has been setting up a network of automated parcel terminals across the country. To kick things off, Xiaomi is piloting the feature in Delhi-NCR regions.
The process is quite straightforward and allows you to collect packages any time, day or night, from these terminals by simply inputting the received one-time passwords. During the checkout page on Mi.com, you can select which kiosk is the closest to your location. As soon as the product is delivered to the terminal, you’ll be notified through an SMS, after which you will have to pick it up within the timespan of 72 hours or three days. If it’s a prepaid order, there’s nothing more you need to do other than collect it. However, for the rest, there are a handful of payment options available including BHIM, PayTM, and via credit or debit cards.
Opting for the Smartbox option has a bunch of advantages, most importantly the fact that it eliminates the need for being available when the courier person arrives and can be accessed any time of the day. However, there are a few obvious security concerns to this approach as well. Moreover, in its blog post, Xiaomi has not mentioned anything about returns in the case of your parcel being stolen. More details about the available locations can be found here.
Amazon has a similar platform for delivering parcels to lockers in the United States. Apart from deliveries, Amazon also allows returning products through the same medium as well. There’s a good chance the e-commerce juggernaut might eventually bring Lockers to India if startups like Smartbox are able to succeed.
