Zalando and bpost have tested the potential of home delivery. Online shoppers turned out - after some initial doubts - to be enthusiastic about the service, where the delivery driver enters the house without the resident being at home.
The two parties tested the service among 750 consumers in the Antwerp area. The pilot used Nuki smart door locks.
When the delivery driver presses the smart doorbell, a video connection is established with the customer's smartphone. The latter can then open the door remotely. The delivery driver puts the parcel inside or picks up a parcel that needs to be returned. This action can be followed via the video link.
Focus on emotion, not technology
This autumn, the German retailer and bpost wanted to test not so much the technology, but rather consumers' attitudes towards it. At the start of the pilot, Zalando asked online shoppers how they felt about letting an unknown delivery driver into their home. Fifty per cent of Zalando customers initially responded positively.
Remko Bakker, Business Development at Zalando: "The focus of the experiment was on emotion, not technology. If we go back to e-commerce in the 1990s, hearts had to be won before the general public really embraced online credit card payments. We will experience a similar curve with smart home technologyand the Internet of Things."
Trust-builders
To gain trust, Zalando and bpost informed participants in detail about the service in general and delivery. "Onboarding is important; creating a human connection and providing the important trust-builders. What is the courier's name? What does he or looks like? When will he arrive? Notifications with clear updates put people at ease and add a kind of dialogue to the service."
Time-consuming and expensive
According to Bakker, the results were "very encouraging". "At the end of the experiment, nine out of 10 people asked if we could continue this service. In terms of challenges, the installation was quite time-consuming and relatively expensive. For example, there are a lot of different types of doors. That sounds very basic, but it turned out to be one of the hurdles."
Commenting to Emerce, Zalando said it does not plan to expand the test for the time being.
