What is a smart locker?
A smart locker is a cabinet of individually locking compartments whose doors are released by a credential, not a key, and which records every open and close in cloud software. The user identifies themselves with a PIN, a card, a code or an app. The controller releases one specific cell. A sensor in that cell confirms the door actually opened and closed again, and the transaction is logged against the user, the cell and the time.
That audit record is what you are buying. A keyed locker tells you nothing about who used it. A smart locker can show who collected the laptop, when the loan racket came back, and which cell is holding a parcel that has gone uncollected for two days.
The term needs two clarifications, because search results mix it up with other products:
- It is not a smart lock. A consumer smart lock secures one door in a house. A smart locker is a bank of compartments, often dozens, managed together.
- It is not an athletic or wooden locker. Team-room and changing-room lockers are furniture. A smart locker is an electronic, networked machine, which is why it can issue, hire, sell and track the things inside it.
How smart lockers work
Access: how the door opens
KioskForce lockers are built around the credential the site already uses:
| Access method | How it works | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|
| PIN code | The user enters a code on the keypad to open their assigned compartment | Simple shared staff lockers. No cards to issue |
| RFID or ID card | The user taps a MIFARE, HID or EM card. Cards are issued and revoked in the locker software | Sites with existing staff badges |
| Dual authentication | PIN and card are both required | High-value tools, pharmaceuticals, strict compliance environments |
| QR code or one-time code | A code issued per order or reservation opens one cell once | Parcel, food delivery and click-and-collect |
| App or API call | The user taps unlock in an app, and the platform calls the locker API | Delivery lockers integrated with a delivery platform |
| Pay at the locker | Card or QR payment at the touchscreen opens the cell | Equipment hire and retail |
Different cabinets in one installation can use different modes. For example, shared employee lockers can use a PIN while high-value tool storage uses an ID card.
Cell states: what the locker knows
Each cell has a door sensor, so the system knows the difference between “we released the lock” and “the door actually opened”. That distinction is what makes a drop-off, collection or return trustworthy.
The software holds each cell in a defined state. On a delivery locker the states are IDLE, RESERVED, OCCUPIED, PENDING_SANITIZATION and SANITIZATION. A scheduler in the cloud checks the whole estate every 30 seconds and moves each cell on. On a hire locker, LED indicators show each compartment as available or in use. On a hybrid PPE machine, a locker cell can issue an item and later accept the return of the same item.
Remote management
The cabinet is the visible part. Day to day, most of the work happens in the management software:
- An audit trail of every access. You can see who accessed which compartment, and when, whatever the access mode.
- Remote control. Open a door, change pricing and check status without visiting the cabinet.
- Alerts. Low-stock and maintenance alerts, plus an error against any locker that fails to confirm an instruction.
- Unreliable networks. On the delivery platform, every instruction is cached server-side for 30 seconds and acknowledged by the machine. If the connection drops, pending instructions are replayed in order when it comes back.
- Integration. KioskForce smart lockers can join the Industrial Vending platform that runs our PPE and tool vending machines, and through it integrate with ServiceNow. A collection becomes an asset assignment, and a return closes it. Delivery lockers expose a documented REST and gRPC API with webhooks.
The cabinet
- Construction: cold-rolled, powder-coated steel, white as standard, with custom colours available. Hire lockers use polycarbonate doors and weather-resistant construction for courtside installation.
- Size and layout: custom cabinets range from 100 to 2000 mm wide, 100 to 2000 mm high and 100 to 1000 mm deep, with 1–10 rows of 1–10 cells, up to 100 compartments per cabinet.
- Mobility: fixed legs, or heavy-duty industrial castor wheels so the cabinet can be repositioned.
- Connectivity: Ethernet as standard on the L180-10C, with optional Wi-Fi and 4G/5G.
- Service access: emergency access through the back panel for maintenance.
- Options specified at order: charging ports (AC sockets or tracked USB-C), and per-cell weight sensors for cells holding expensive items. Weight sensors are fitted during manufacture and cannot be retrofitted. Delivery cabinets add a per-cell ultraviolet sanitising lamp and ventilation as standard, with an optional heating pad.
Types of smart locker by use
The cabinet engineering is shared. What changes from one type to the next is the cell mix, the credential and the software workflow.
| Type | What goes in it | Typical access | Where to read more |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employee and asset lockers | Loaner laptops, radios, gas detectors, harnesses, tools | Staff badge or PIN, logged per cell | Employee lockers, ServiceNow lockers |
| Phone and device lockers | Personal phones during shifts, tablets, scanners, with optional charging | Badge or PIN | Cell phone lockers |
| PPE and tool lockers | Hard hats, harnesses, instruments issued and returned | Badge, with quotas | PPE vending with hybrid locker cells, L180-10C |
| Sports, gym and club equipment | Padel and tennis rackets, pickleball paddles, balls, gym kit | Card or QR payment, membership card | Gym and sports lockers, padel |
| Parcel and food delivery | Orders dropped by riders for residents and office workers | One-time code, QR, app | Delivery lockers |
| Click-and-collect | Orders staff set aside for customers to collect at any hour | Code, QR or app | Custom smart lockers |
| Food pickup and retail | Products sold from illuminated compartments | Touchscreen payment | Bakery bread wall |
| Healthcare | Portable devices, staff equipment, after-hours pickup | Badge, PIN or code, dual authorisation | Healthcare |
Employee, asset and PPE lockers
The aim is to know who has each item. A worker taps their badge, and the cell holding their assigned item opens. When the item comes back, the return is logged against the same worker. On a PPE vending machine, the locker cells run in hybrid mode alongside the coils, so a helmet is issued from a cell in the morning and returned to it at the end of the shift. For IT departments, the same pattern covers loaner devices, request pickup and drop-off for repair, with each event written to ServiceNow.
Phone and device lockers
Phone lockers have small cells, use a badge or PIN, and often have charging in every compartment. They hold staff phones while staff are in an area where phones are not allowed, and keep shared devices charged between shifts. See cell phone lockers for employees.
Sports, gym and club equipment lockers
These lockers let a venue hire or sell equipment with no counter staff. The player pays at the locker and a cell opens. With the standard Nayax build, the card is authorised rather than charged, and the hire is settled once the gear is back. The standard reader runs the Marshall protocol, which allows settlement up to 71 hours after authorisation, and Nayax has certified the integration for equipment rental. See gym and sports lockers and the padel club locker system.
Parcel and food delivery lockers
A rider who has never been to the building drops an order into a cell that the delivery platform reserved minutes earlier, and the customer collects it later with a code. This takes a cloud reservation service and an API, which a staff-loaded locker does not need. See delivery lockers and the delivery locker case study.
Click-and-collect and food pickup
In click-and-collect, staff load an order the customer has already bought, and the customer opens the cell with a code, QR scan or app at any hour, including outside opening times. A Sydney bakery runs a variant of this: one K180-6C kiosk and two L180-10C cabinets give it 26 illuminated compartments. Staff refill them from the back, and customers buy and collect from the front.
How much does a smart locker cost?
Smart locker pricing is quoted per configuration, because cabinet size, cell count and options drive almost all of it. For a custom cabinet, the smart locker configurator shows an instant estimate that updates as you change the dimensions and cell grid. You can then submit the design for a formal quotation including shipping, which we return within 1–2 business days.
The prices KioskForce publishes are starting points, not quotes:
| Configuration | Published price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Custom locker cabinet, 800 × 1800 × 500 mm, 10 cells | Instant estimate in the configurator. The estimate rises with cabinet size and cell count | Configurator |
| K180-6C locker kiosk: 21.5-inch touchscreen, 6 cells, expandable with more cabinets | From USD 1,800 | Kiosks |
| Equipment-hire locker system, 4–8 compartments, including hardware and setup | From about US$8,000 | Equipment hire |
| Tennis hire locker system, 12 compartments (worked example) | $10,000 | Tennis equipment hire |
| Food delivery locker, pilot deployment | Indicative $20,000 setup | Case study |
What moves the price:
- Cabinet size and cell count. These are the base of every estimate.
- The cell mix. The largest item that has to fit sets how many big cells you need, and big cells are the expensive part.
- Front-end hardware. A touchscreen, QR scanner or card payment terminal, compared with a keypad alone.
- Per-cell options. Charging ports, weight sensors, and on delivery builds the heating pad. Weight sensors and charging are fitted during manufacture, so decide on them before you order.
- Environment. Outdoor rating and castors compared with fixed legs.
- Integration scope. ServiceNow, an HR or badge system, a booking platform, or a delivery platform API.
- Quantity. Volume discounts apply at 20, 50 and 100 or more units.
Plan for the running cost as well. On hire lockers the venue sets its own rental prices and keeps the rental revenue, and KioskForce charges a software fee of about $0.70 per rental transaction. Lease-to-own is available on hire systems.
Choosing a smart locker manufacturer
Most smart locker suppliers can show you a cabinet. The questions below are about everything else, and you can ask them of any supplier, including us. For the wider process, see how to vet a manufacturer.
- Who wrote the software, and who do I call when a door won’t open? If the hardware maker, the software vendor and the reseller are three different companies, a stuck door becomes three support tickets.
- What happens when the network drops? Ask whether instructions are acknowledged, cached and replayed, or simply lost.
- Will it read the badges we already issue? Get the supported card technologies (MIFARE, HID, EM) in writing.
- What is fixed at build, and what can change later? Door sizes are physical. Whether a door hires or sells can usually be changed in software, but its size cannot.
- Which options must be ordered up front? Weight sensors and charging ports are fitted during manufacture. A supplier who says they can add them later is describing a different product.
- What does the audit record contain, and can we get it out? Ask for the fields (user, cell, time, item), the export format and the API.
- Is the payment integration certified for this use? Hire needs authorise-now, settle-later payments. Ask which terminal and protocol the supplier uses, and whether the payment provider has certified it.
- What are the minimum order, lead time, warranty and spare-parts terms? Ask whether you can order locks and controller boards against your model years from now.
How KioskForce answers:
| Question | KioskForce |
|---|---|
| Hardware and software | Both designed in-house. You deal with the team that designed and builds your system |
| Network loss | Delivery platform instructions are cached for 30 seconds, acknowledged by the machine and replayed in order. Unacknowledged instructions are logged as errors |
| Credentials | PIN, MIFARE, HID and EM cards, dual authentication, QR and one-time codes, app or API |
| Options at order | Charging ports and per-cell weight sensors are factory-fitted and cannot be retrofitted |
| Audit and integration | Every access logged per cell. ServiceNow through the Industrial Vending platform. Public delivery API |
| Payment for hire | Nayax on the Marshall protocol, certified by Nayax for equipment rental |
| Ordering | From a single unit for evaluation. Volume discounts at 20, 50 and 100+. Hire systems live in 4–8 weeks |
| Manufacturing | Designed and engineered in Nanjing, built in partner factories in China, shipped worldwide |
| After sale | Standard 12-month warranty. Spare parts ordered against your model |
Every KioskForce smart locker page
- Custom smart locker configurator and quote: set dimensions and cells for an instant estimate
- Cell phone lockers and lockers for employees: phone storage, charging, staff device issue and return
- Gym, sports and gear lockers: equipment hire and sale for clubs, gyms and courts
- Food and parcel delivery lockers: rider drop-off, resident pickup, open API
- Food delivery locker case study
- L180-10C ten-cell smart locker: the standardised cabinet
- K180-6C locker kiosk: touchscreen with six cells, expandable
- Equipment hire lockers, with padel, pickleball and tennis pages
- ServiceNow smart lockers: IT asset pickup, loaner pools and repair drop-off
- PPE vending with hybrid locker cells and the PPE quota case study
- Charging ports and weight-sensor tracking
Frequently asked questions
What is a smart locker?
A smart locker is a cabinet of individually locking compartments whose doors are released electronically by a credential such as a PIN, an RFID or ID card, a QR code, a one-time code or an app command, instead of a key. Each cell has a door sensor that reports open and closed, and cloud software records who opened which cell and when. That record is what separates a smart locker from a keyed or combination locker: the operator can assign cells, open doors remotely and audit every transaction without anyone standing at the cabinet.
How does a smart locker open?
With whatever credential the deployment is built around. KioskForce lockers support a PIN on a numeric keypad, an RFID or ID card (MIFARE, HID and EM cards), or both together for high-value items. Delivery lockers add a QR scan or a numeric code issued per order, and an API call from the delivery platform’s own app. Hire lockers open after a card or QR payment at the locker. An operator can also open a door remotely from the management software, for example when a user is locked out.
How much does a smart locker cost?
It depends on cabinet size, cell count, access hardware and options, so KioskForce quotes per configuration. The online configurator at /customised_lockers/ gives an instant estimate for a custom cabinet as you change its dimensions and cell grid. Published starting points are USD 1,800 for the K180-6C locker kiosk with a 21.5-inch touchscreen and six cells, and about US$8,000 for a 4-8 compartment equipment-hire locker system including hardware and setup. Charging ports, weight sensors, payment terminals and outdoor builds add to the price. Volume discounts apply at 20, 50 and 100 or more units.
What is the difference between a smart locker and a vending machine?
A vending machine suits consumables that are issued and not returned, with many units of each item. A smart locker suits fewer, higher-value items that are collected and often returned, such as devices, tools and hire equipment, and it logs the return per cell. Many sites use both. KioskForce also builds hybrid machines in which locker cells both dispense and accept returns, alongside coils or trays for consumables, in one cabinet.
Can smart lockers charge phones and laptops?
Yes, as a factory-fitted option. Each compartment can carry an AC charging socket board or USB-C ports. The USB-C option logs every charging session against the user, with start and end time, duration and energy used, and operators can set usage limits per user or per day. Charging is specified when the locker is ordered, including the port type, the number of ports and their placement, because it is wired in during manufacture.
Can a smart locker be installed outdoors?
Yes, if it is built for it. KioskForce equipment-hire lockers use polycarbonate doors and weather-resistant construction, and one courtside unit runs year-round in an open-sided shelter beside outdoor courts. Click-and-collect cabinets can be specified as indoor or outdoor-rated builds. State the installation site when you request a quote, because the outdoor rating is set when the cabinet is built.
Where are KioskForce smart lockers made, and is there a minimum order?
KioskForce designs the locker hardware and software in-house, with design, engineering and quality control in Nanjing, and builds the cabinets in partner factories in China for shipment worldwide. Custom locker orders start from a single unit for prototyping and evaluation, and production orders typically run from 10 to 100 or more cabinets. A standard 12-month warranty covers manufacturing defects.
Talk to us about a smart locker
Tell us what will go in the cells, who will open them and how, and where the locker will stand. We will come back with a cell layout and a price, not a brochure. To try a design yourself first, use the configurator.
Project brief · 60 seconds
What are we building together?
Three quick steps. Your brief goes straight to the engineers who design, build and support KioskForce systems.
