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Parcels can be delivered to rail stations, universities and corner shops – so why can’t it be delivered just to me?
The days of waiting at home for parcels to arrive are well and truly gone.
The proliferation of click-and-collect, third party collection points and even own-brand pick-up points such as Amazon and Asda, means shoppers are no longer tied to waiting around for the postman.
Or worse still, trekking down to the Post Office depot with a red ‘sorry I missed you’ card.
A visit to the train station, cornershop, or in my case the gym, thanks to the conveniently located Amazon collection locker in the Crystal Palace Sports Centre, means you have your new buys.
“The rise of the smartphone means that pretty much everyone has a device with in-built GPS so our exact location can be ascertained at all times”
All of these are convenient options, but surely the best solution for consumers is for their parcels to be delivered directly to them, wherever they might be.
The rise of the smartphone means that pretty much everyone has a device with in-built GPS so our exact location can be ascertained at all times (4G connectivity issues withstanding). However, ‘deliver to me’ solutions remain relatively unexplored.
Zalando pioneers geolocation delivery
Until now that is. German etail pioneer Zalando has started trialling a service that uses geolocation to deliver online orders to shoppers via cycle couriers wherever they are.
Zalando customers can make last-minute decisions about delivery locations via a smartphone app so that their parcel is brought directly to them – be it in the coffee shop they’re working in or a friend’s house.
“Instead of asking our customers to go somewhere or be somewhere, we want to be where our customers are”
Ken Fontijn, Zalando
The service, which is being trialled in Belgium where Zalando is working with local firm Parcify, allows couriers to track shoppers down using the geolocation information and send push notifications to users when their packages are close to arriving.
Zalando Benelux country manager Ken Fontijn said the service was designed to reduce the barriers of online shopping.
He said: “Instead of asking our customers to go somewhere or be somewhere, we want to be where our customers are.”
For a shopper this is a pretty slick service and makes online shopping even easier. I’d use it. Zalando – bring it to the UK next please!
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