In today’s society, time is an increasingly important part of everyday life. Be it long office hours or limited mobility, it is not always possible to reach the shop during opening hours. For this reason, drive-through shopping and order in store, for example, are becoming increasingly popular. Simply order online and then pick up the pre-packed bags at the supermarket. Another approach is the principle of the stationary goods box, in which the delivered products can be stored.
Order in Store implementation examples
A system that SBB has already tried out is the so called GoodBox. The mobile shop integrated into the SBB service app allows you to purchase all kinds of products, from flowers to fresh food. The products are then stored in special lockers. Even though the GoodBox was only a prototype and has since been shut down, the initiators believe in the principle and develop a new system based on the GoodBox principle together with various Swiss dealers.
With similar business models more and more services are coming in today. In a similar concept to that of Switzerland, for example, a fresh box from German supermarket EDEKA can be found at Stuttgart’s main station. In cooperation with Deutsche Bahn, there are the so-called train “Bahnhofsboxen”, where food can be ordered online and is then available in the desired time window!
Order in store systems are still at the beginning and have to struggle with a lot of hurdles concerning freshness and speed. But they are on the right way to promote Omnichannel retail and help bring retailers to the forefront of digitalisation.
