The online retail giant Amazon has announced its renunciation of free delivery of new books via automatic lockers in France, but this service remains free for pickups at the counter of stores that sell them.
“We have decided, for new books, to concentrate the free delivery on counter pickup points and in-store entrances—and to exclude automated lockers,” said an Amazon spokesperson.
As a reminder, tensions are high between Amazon and the bookselling sector in France, around the interpretation of a 2023 decree taken under the Darcos law. This decree, since October 2023, imposes minimum shipping fees of three euros for any shipment of new books, “unless the book is picked up at a retail bookstore.”
Amazon France argued that this provision allowed it to deliver for free into its lockers, while representatives of the sector, as well as the Book Mediator, an independent public authority, considered that the giant was circumventing the law.
The decision to discontinue locker delivery is “under way, it is being pursued,” Amazon said.
The group maintains that automatic lockers constitute a minority of the roughly 3,000 eligible pickup points, without giving their exact number.
In 2025, the Book Mediator had estimated that they accounted for “a third (or more) of the thousands of free pickup points” for Amazon parcels.
According to an Amazon spokesperson, “in practice, the coverage area remains comparable and customers will continue” to benefit from a “large network of pickup points, largely located in rural municipalities and small towns,” the priority being to “support (…) access to books across France.”
This decision comes four months after a setback for Amazon which had seized the Conseil d’État to annul the decree.
The Conseil d’État had notably ruled that the minimum delivery fee for books set by the government under the law was “in line with European law,” in a decision issued on May 13.
