Zalando says private delivery test sees "excellent" results

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Sep 24, 2019

With the seamless handling of delivery and returns being a key weapon that the biggest online retailers can deploy in the fashion sector, it's interesting to hear that Zalando’s recent test in Denmark of a pick-up and drop-off pilot has seen a strong response.

It sees community members, known as “Din Nabo” (or, “your neighbour"), becoming service points for packages and Remko Bakker, the company’s head of Logistics Platform Services, said that 95% of customers who had their package delivered to a Din Nabo reported an “excellent service” when collecting or returning their package. 

The pilot is taking place in residential areas of Copenhagen and Aarhus and “first learnings from the pilot test indicate that the concept will function even better in rural areas,” he said. That’s because “there are fewer stores and opening hours are shorter, which calls for a more convenient pick-up and drop-off option. Also, in rural areas of Denmark, more houses are accessed via the ground floor, which increases convenience.”

Mark Pieterse, co-founders of Homerr, the Dutch delivery partner with which Zalando is working, said the service also seems to be appealing to Danes because of the sustainability element.

“Danish people are increasingly aware of sustainability. This is a chance for individuals to positively impact their community by reducing the number of delivery attempts made by providing a single drop-off or pick-up point. Many Din Nabo are happy to support and be part of their local communities, interacting with others and helping them by providing a convenient service. People who have signed up to become Din Nabo also earn a small commission for their service.”

Juriaan Matthijssen, Homerr’s other co-founder, added that this is important as “private delivery and return points will help reduce the environmental impact (up to 50 grams per package in the case of this pilot concept) by taking the pressure off the last mile. Zalando orders will be bundled to fewer addresses and, as a result, there will be fewer but more efficient delivery routes.”

Zalando’s Bakker also said that “feedback from customers is very much in line with our preliminary market research, which predicted that proximity, opening hours and accessibility are the most important criteria when deciding on a specific pick-up point. Furthermore, 72% of Danish customers state that they are highly likely to use pick-up points in the near future knowing that they are more environmentally friendly.”

The company will continue to test the concept until the end of October and will then assess how to proceed.