site.btaOnline Shoppers Increasingly Turn to Parcel Lockers and Courier Offices

Seven in ten Bulgarians prefer collecting online orders from courier offices or parcel lockers, the Communications Regulation Commission said on Monday.

The Commission’s 2025 annual report showed that 83% of consumers use courier services, while 70.1% prefer delivery to an office or locker. The findings confirm a trend that parcel delivery company BOX NOW has observed since entering the Bulgarian market, the company’s press office said.

BOX NOW data show that locker deliveries have evolved from a niche service into one of the courier market’s fastest-growing segments in just a few years. Roughly one in four e-commerce parcels is now delivered to a locker, and the share is expected to continue growing.

“The Commission’s report provides important independent confirmation that the market is entering a new stage of development. Consumers increasingly expect deliveries to be fast, convenient and flexible, giving them the freedom to decide when and where to receive their parcels. This is why we expect the share of automated deliveries to keep growing in the coming years,” BOX NOW CEO Andrej Vyskrabka said.

The Commission’s report also showed that courier services are most widely used by people aged 18 to 49, with the rate close to 90%. Usage is highest among skilled professionals, at 98.2%; students, at 94.3%; and people in managerial positions, at 90%. Women use courier services more often than men, at 86% compared with 79%.

Residents of Sofia and regional capitals are also among the most active users, at 89.6% and 87%, respectively. The report links this to both the growth of e-commerce and the wider availability of courier services.

E-commerce remains the main market driver. Fewer than one in three consumers choose cash on delivery, while card payments are increasingly preferred, including for cash-on-delivery purchases, indicating a gradual shift towards more convenient digital payment methods.

The report identifies BOX NOW as the country’s only operator delivering exclusively through parcel lockers, with 795 lockers at the end of 2025, 73% of them powered entirely by solar energy. The total number of lockers in Bulgaria reached 3,725, up 18% from 2024.

BOX NOW plans to expand its network not only in Sofia and major cities but also in smaller settlements. By the end of 2026, it plans to operate about 1,200 lockers in more than 320 settlements. The goal is to make the service accessible to about 90% of online shoppers in Bulgaria.

Postal-service revenue reached BGN 992 million in 2025, with e-commerce remaining the main growth driver, the analysis showed.