An innovative German Business-To-Office’ (B2O) delivery service called ‘Pakadoo’ has delivered over 10,000 parcels to offices since its launch in mid-2015 and now counts over 50 special workplace “delivery points”, with the aim to reach 500 by the end of this year.
The award-winning service was launched at HP offices in Germany last October as a pilot project. Pakadoo belongs to Logistics Group International (LGI), which was outsourced from HP in 1995, and enables employees of the companies that sign up for the service to receive their private parcels at the workplace and also handle return shipments from there.
Other big companies including IBM, Metro, ZF/TRW and Paul Hartmann Group now also use the service with more companies to be added soon, German logistics newspaper DVZ reported. Around 27,000 employees at over 50 locations can now use the service.
Karsten Ackermann, Business Development Manager Pakadoo, told the recent industry forum Trade Logistics North Rhine-Westphalia that the company has been primarily working with DHL and Hermes to date. But Pakadoo would work with any parcel carrier, he stressed. “We are in negotiations with everybody.”
Ackerman highlighted the potential of the concept as only 3% of all parcels in Germany are currently being delivered to offices. “By bundling deliveries, costs can be considerably reduced. In addition, the city traffic in residential areas is reduced,” he said.
To use the system, a company needs to set up a Pakadoo Point, for example at its reception, in mailrooms or other agreed locations. The required app is provided for free. The online shopper receives a pincode and a QR code per mail which ensures secure delivery of the parcel. Some online retailers such as Amazon have already integrated Pakadoo in their ordering process.
"Studies have shown that every second employee would like to receive private parcels at work,” Ackermann said, adding: "Employers thus create a social benefit for their employees." The concept is not expensive and improves the sustainability balance of companies as multiple transports of the carriers are eliminated through the bundling effect, he stressed.
Pakadoo contributes to the cost reductions that the parcel service providers achieve through bundling but Ackermann didn’t name the share. He estimated the savings at more than 40% compared to delivery to private households as the last mile accounts for the lion's share of the costs.
According to a study by the University of Bamberg surveying users of parcel terminals, the CO2 emissions are reduced significantly when packages are delivered bundled to one place. However, the savings of up to 36% depend on whether the user behaves in an environmentally conscious way meaning no additional journeys are made for collecting the packages, or whether an environmentally friendly means of transport is used.
"With Pakadoo, the savings are even higher as the packages are delivered where the recipient is present during the day. This omits the trips to the parcel terminals with the delivery rate at the first attempt being 100%,” Ackermann said.
However, Pakadoo is suitable only for companies of a certain size, with at least 200 employees, the manager said. In addition, there are calculation parameters for the parcels. “The delivery of complete garden furniture or winter tyres to the office is not possible,” Ackermann said. Usually, the parcels have a standard size such as book shipments.
While there are numerous models to reduce the high costs on the last mile such as delivery time slots or bundling through parcel terminals and parcel boxes for apartment blocks or companies, these are mostly individual solutions of the respective parcel operators. “We are independent of carriers and thus unique in this sense.”
What he considers the biggest challenge are rather the plans of the parcel operators to share provider-neutral parcel boxes in the way that Hermes, GLS and DPD plan to do with their Parcellock project.
Last week, Pakadoo won the LEO award in the category “Innovation” in Hamburg. The event was organised for the ninth time by the industry newspaper DVZ which recognises innovation drivers for outstanding performances in the logistics industry in five different categories.
