Case study b2b: InPost parcel machines vs December Shopping Peak

Step 1: add new machines

The e-commerce market has been experiencing double-digit growth rates for several years now, so it was entirely realistic to assume that we would break the record results of 2013 in December. We expected customers to order their Christmas presents to InPost Parcel Machines en masse.

What does the Parcel Post team dislike most, and what do our customers dislike even more? Queues at parcel collection. So our analysts located the Parcel Machines where customers order the most parcels. Since mid-2014, we have been adding more machines in their vicinity. To make sure that all interested parties could learn about this, we stuck stickers on the most popular Parcel Machines with the locations of the new machines, and we launched a mini information campaign on our social media channels.

Step 2: introduce Mobile Parcel Machines

Many of our customers pick up their parcels just before the statutory 72 hours. Flexibility is a huge advantage on a day-to-day basis, but during the Christmas rush it can sometimes be problematic for deliverers. Why? Unfortunately, even the largest Paczkomaty (e.g. the giant near Tesco in Warsaw's Kabaty district) have limited capacity. If parcels linger in the boxes for a long time, it is not possible to deliver new parcels to them and the waiting time gets longer. A tough nut to crack...

After a longer analysis of the problem, we decided to send so-called mobile collection points into the field. Our delivery drivers in "Santa" hats with the InPost logo arrived at Paczkomaty and handed out parcels from their cars to customers until late in the evening, sometimes adding some Christmas surprises from the company.

Many customers appreciated this method for the December peak, and there were also critical voices. We continuously analysed the sentiment of the campaign on the Internet and passed on comments to the branches and, most importantly, we aimed to place parcels from the Mobile Parcel Machines in the stationary machines as soon as the boxes became free. From the start of the campaign until 31 December, we have thus delivered 189,572 parcels from the Mobile Parcel Machines.

We were aware of some of the drawbacks of this solution (reduced collection times for some parcels) already at the implementation stage. However, we considered mobile pick-up points to be the most effective form of unloading traffic and avoided the situation that befell the couriers in the UK, where they simply stopped accepting parcels before Christmas.

Step 3: we motivate

We delivered new machines, introduced mobile pick-up points, our helpline worked up a sweat and increased our Facebook activity time, but the parcels were still arriving. So we decided to creatively mobilise our users to collect their gifts faster.

First, we decided that the hearts of our customers should be appealed to... by Paczucha. To this end, 24 hours after the parcel was placed in the target Parcel Machine, we sent a special SMS message (screen in the picture), which, as we could see from the posts on our fanpage and the "likes", was enthusiastically received by customers.

In addition, we also organised a "4 hours" competition for those who were the fastest to collect their parcels. The main prize was a Lenovo A7-30 (A3300) 3G GPS Tablet, and for those who received distinctions, gift vouchers to be used in the Agito.pl shop. Our customers sent in thousands of responses, many of them very funny, original and interesting.

Step 4: we put our heart into it!

What would all the activities described above be without the energy and mobilisation of our delivery people? On 24 December, when we feared that instead of Christmas greetings we would receive bitter words on our fanpage and Twitter about delivery delays, customers wrote to us to say that they were delighted with the speed of delivery. The stone fell from our hearts and the statistics confirmed the positive feedback: 96.4% of parcels from mobile Parcel Machines were delivered on Christmas Eve by 5 p.m. This means that our delivery drivers once again rose to the challenge, handling twice the volume of parcels than last year (when the record was also set). Bravo!

Step 5: we draw conclusions

We will present you with three of the most important and obvious ones. Firstly: the e-commerce market is booming and Poles love to buy online. Secondly: the rapid growth of the market brings us closer to the situation in which markets in the West find themselves - we face the same problems and challenges. Thirdly: handling Christmas traffic requires a creative approach and extraordinary mobilisation.

This year, we view our organisation and the solutions adopted positively, but we do not yet know what challenges logistics companies will face in 12 months' time. Fortunately, we have plenty of time to think about further improvements. And one thing we can certainly promise you: we will approach the next December peak with creativity and vigour. As befits InPost Parcel Machines!