Austrian Post and the grocery wholesaler Pfeiffer Handelsgruppe have successfully completed adelivery trial of groceries ordered online via www.shop.unimarkt.at targeting 600,000 households in
Upper Austria with different delivery models and an innovative cool box.The 18-month research project ‘Food4all@home’ was conducted in cooperation with the logisticsdepartment of the University of Applied Sciences in Steyr, Upper Austria, and RISC Software GmbH.The aim was to provide consumers a convenient home delivery service of groceries on a daily basis,no matter their mobility, time and place of residence. The concept has been rolled out all overUpper Austria since November 2014.
“The implementation of timely home delivery of groceries, especially in rural areas, requiresintensive cooperation of partners and interconnection of technologies. Pfeiffer provides itsexpertise in the supply of fresh food, while the post offers its competence in comprehensive homedeliveries on a daily basis,” Austrian Post explained.
As part of the project, the parties involved developed three delivery models ‘for a fullrefrigerator without entering a supermarket’. These include same-day delivery in the evenings inLinz, next-day delivery across Upper Austria and collection of products at pick-up stations.
“This new range of logistics services has the potential to revolutionise food supply inAustria”, Peter Umundum, Austrian Post board member responsible for the Parcel & Logisticsdivision, said.
The key goal of the Food4all@home project was to work out how affordably supply of food canbe ensured on a local level regardless the mobility or time constraints of consumers. The SteyrUniversity’s logistics department studied feasibility, market acceptance and profitability of thecooperative operator model and developed a special cool box.
“Food delivery as such is not new. We have asked ourselves whether it could be possible to doit without expensive, actively cooled vehicles by cooling the package itself. This offers thepossibility to use efficient standard processes of parcel delivery which is definitely cheaper,”explained Dr. Efrem Lengauer, from the University of Applied Sciences.
To implement this project, it was necessary to use cool boxes that are compatible with theexisting transport and sorting facilities and can be reused. “The content of the food boxes remainsproperly cooled up to 48 hours. Thus, we can make deliveries of refrigerated food at all seasonsand outdoor temperatures,” Umundum explained.
RISC Software developed a last-mile simulation framework for Food4all@home that takes intoaccount the current traffic situation. This, in turn, enables Austrian Post to optimise itsdelivery rounds and the delivery times and keep them to-the-minute by taking the rush hour trafficinto account.
“Customers want uncomplicated delivery in the shortest possible time and we can offer it. Weplace special emphasis on keeping our delivery commitments and on flexibly selectable deliveryoptions,” Umundum added.
“Our research project was not only about selling groceries in an online shop but alsocreating added value and providing solutions for customers through intelligent linking of saleschannels that are available through web technologies,” Mag. Markus Böhm, Managing Director,Pfeiffer Handelsgruppe, commented.
Based on the findings of the research project, home delivery of groceries will be rolled outfurther. “We want to solve the everyday-recurring problem of people who are short of time. At thesame time, we provide valuable help in everyday life of the customers who are not mobile or cannotcarry their items themselves. Both areas have high potential,” Böhm added.
