The emergence of smart lockers was driven by the need to address the pain points associated with traditional lockers, such as their reliance on physical credentials (e.g., barcodes, IC cards, magnetic cards), the consumption of materials, the risk of loss, and low security levels. Established in 1999, Shenzhen Zhilai Sci & Tech Co., Ltd. was one of the industry's early pioneers. The company initially launched smart lockers featuring user-set PINs, system-generated barcodes, network connectivity, and contactless IC card access, subsequently introducing models with fingerprint recognition and TCP/IP-based networking capabilities Later, the industry saw the introduction of smart lockers integrating technologies such as facial recognition and QR code scanning.
On February 28, 2025, the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Standardization Administration of China issued the national standard "Urban Public Facilities-Service Specifications for Non-Logistics Smart Lockers" (GB/T 45421-2025), which officially came into effect on June 1, 2025. By the mid-to-late 2020s, the smart locker industry continued to evolve in terms of brand building and service integration; certain products saw deepened application in settings such as urban rail transit, achieving a convergence of functions like item storage and express parcel shipping.
