Clas Ohlson pilots a new effective way of using parcel lockers

26th October 2020

Swedish chain store Clas Ohlson aims to make Collect in Store processes more efficient with their new in store parcel locker pilot project.

Relevant and attractive delivery options are key at Clas Ohlson. That’s why they expanded their online delivery options to include Collect in Store back in 2018. This delivery option has become so popular, that the Swedish chain store now wants to make Collect in Store even more convenient for the customers and at the same time more efficient and profitable for the store.

“With Collect in Store as it is today, the customer has to go to a service desk and talk to a staff member who then has to go to a different location to pick up the parcel and hand it over to the customer. We wanted to see if a parcel locker could make this handing over process more efficient,” said Richard Lindeen, eCommerce Supply Leader at Clas Ohlson.

“Also, the parcel lockers are more convenient for the customer, as they don’t have to wait in line, and aligned with Covid-19 standards as the lockers eliminate human contact.“

Clas Ohlson is piloting parcel lockers in their store in Liljeholmen, just outside Stockholm city, Sweden, and in Oslo city, Norway. The pilot project is carried out in collaboration with Delivery Management software provider, Consignor, and parcel locker vendor, Quadient.

Revolutionary shipment process behind pilot

The shipment process behind Clas Ohlson’s parcel locker pilot has never been seen before and represents a completely new point of integration.

“It is unique that a parcel locker vendor integrates with a delivery management system. We have not seen any other cases on this, so it is completely new,” said Jonathan Hedlund, Key Account Manager at Quadient.

When the pilot stores scan parcels for the parcel lockers, the locker then sends a message to the delivery management system containing the barcode, locker location code, pickup code for the consumer and finally an event code. The delivery management system then sends a SMS to the customer with the pickup code notifying them that their online order is ready for pickup.

This automation is not only time saving for store employees, as they don’t have to spend time on finding customers’ online orders, but also for customers when picking up their orders in store.

The future for parcel lockers at Clas Ohlson

Following the pilots in Stockholm and Oslo, Clas Ohlson is evaluating the possibilities to expand the parcel lockers to more of their stores.

“We have set KPIs for the pilot measuring the efficiency in parcel handling processes in store. Also, we look at how the parcel lockers affect the conversion rate in store and the overall profitability of the order. We have a holistic approach to the whole pilot and look at it from all angles to see the net effect, is it positive or negative?” said Richard Lindeen and concludes:

“We are also piloting parcel lockers that we don’t have control of to see how an external service provider can drive traffic to our stores. So that is a quite different angle, but it’s all part of a major pilot program under the theme of parcels lockers in store.”

Want to learn more about Collect in Store at Clas Ohlson? Go to the case study here.

If you are interested in learning more about how retailers evolved their click & collect offering in response to the pandemic and how to drive store footfall and enhance the buying experience with click & collect, please click on the link below to download the FREE “Click & Collect Evolution In Retail” report.