Tesco is pulling the plug on its partnership with Evri ParcelShop, ending the service across all UK stores by the end of November in what represents another significant blow to the delivery company’s increasingly unstable retail network.
The supermarket giant confirmed it’s “in the process of winding down” the over-the-counter parcel service at individual stores, with the official termination date set for Friday, November 28th across all Tesco Express locations.
Stores will offer a 10-day grace period after this date to give customers who’ve arranged parcel collections at Tesco enough time to pick up their items, but from early December, Evri parcels will no longer be accepted or handled at any Tesco branch.
The Evri ParcelShop Partnership That’s Coming to an End
The collaboration between Tesco and Evri’s ParcelShop service began in 2021, allowing customers to send, collect, and return parcels from thousands of different retailers at their local Tesco.
From 2023, the partnership was sweetened with Tesco Clubcard points on selected Evri orders, creating an additional incentive for customers to use the service.
But that relationship is now being systematically dismantled across Tesco’s network, leaving customers scrambling for alternative collection points and raising serious questions about the viability of Evri’s ParcelShop model.
A Tesco spokesperson confirmed the decision with the kind of corporate language that acknowledges inconvenience without explaining the underlying reasons:
“Our partnership with Evri, offering an over-the-counter Parcel Shop service at Tesco Express stores, is coming to an end. We are in the process of winding down this service in our stores and will display details in individual stores of when the service will stop at that location. We are sorry for the inconvenience.”
What the spokesperson didn’t mention is why Tesco decided to end a partnership that was supposedly providing a valuable service to customers whilst generating Clubcard engagement.
The Pattern Behind the Pullout
This latest retailer exodus fits perfectly into the broader pattern of Evri’s ParcelShop network systematically falling apart as convenience stores and supermarkets discover that hosting these services creates more problems than profits.
Earlier this year, Londis Solo Convenience in Glasgow ended a decade-long membership of Evri’s ParcelShop network after owner Natalie Lightfoot described the arrangement as “untenable.”
Her store was processing more than 100 parcels daily but earning just 20p commission per parcel, a rate that simply doesn’t cover the staff time required to assist customers with printing labels, typing details into tablets, and troubleshooting Evri’s systems.
The introduction of Evri’s digital receipt system, which often fails to send confirmation emails and requires manual input of customer email addresses, has only made matters worse for retailers trying to maintain efficient service.
For Tesco, operating ParcelShop services across hundreds of stores would have meant dedicating staff time to what amounts to unpaid customer service work for Evri, interfering with their core business of actually selling groceries.
The Asda Switcheroo
The timing of Tesco’s withdrawal is particularly interesting given that Evri has just announced a shiny new partnership with Asda, set to launch early next year.
As part of a £50 million investment, Evri is planning to roll out its ParcelShop service across 1,200 Asda locations by April 2026, creating what they’re calling a more convenient option for customers to collect and send parcels whilst doing their grocery shopping.
Chris Hall, Asda’s VP for logistics, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership: “We know how much our customers value convenience, and this service gives them the flexibility to collect or return an Evri parcel, whether they’re popping in for a pint of milk in one of our Express stores or doing their big shop in one of our larger stores.”
The cynic might wonder whether Asda has learned from the experiences of retailers like Tesco and Londis, or whether they’re simply the next in line to discover that hosting Evri ParcelShops creates operational headaches that outweigh the supposed benefits of increased footfall.
Martijn de Lange, CEO of Evri, framed the Asda deal as part of the company’s commitment to “creating a delivery network fit for the modern UK shopper,” conveniently glossing over the fact that their existing network is simultaneously losing major retail partners.
The £50 Million Gamble
Evri has announced ambitious plans to double its network of ParcelShop locations to 25,000 by 2030 through this £50 million investment, with the expansion proper set to launch in June 2025.
But this growth strategy is happening against the backdrop of systematic failures across multiple fronts.
The company is rated the worst in the UK for customer satisfaction, faces ongoing complaints about digital receipt systems that don’t work, and has been caught quietly selling customers’ “lost” parcels at auction houses rather than returning them to their rightful owners.
The recent unconditional CMA approval for Evri’s merger with DHL may provide the operational improvements and financial backing needed to stabilise the ParcelShop network, but for now, the company is losing established retail partners faster than it can replace them.
What This Means for Customers
If you’ve been using Tesco as your go-to location for Evri parcel collections and drop-offs, you’ll need to find alternative arrangements by early December.
The good news is that Evri’s Clubcard partnership with Tesco will continue, meaning customers who book parcel deliveries with Evri can still earn Tesco Clubcard points with every £1 they spend, even if they can’t actually use Tesco stores as collection points anymore.
The bad news is that the ParcelShop network is becoming increasingly unreliable as more retailers back out of partnerships, leaving customers with fewer convenient options for sending and collecting parcels.
For the thousands of Vinted sellers, eBay traders, and online shoppers who depend on accessible ParcelShop locations, Tesco’s withdrawal represents another blow to a service that was supposed to solve Evri’s chronic delivery failures but is instead becoming yet another example of them.
When even major supermarket chains like Tesco decide that hosting Evri’s services isn’t worth the operational hassle, it raises serious questions about whether the ParcelShop model is sustainable at all, or whether Evri is simply running out of retailers willing to act as unpaid customer service centres for a delivery company that can’t seem to get the basics right.
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