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The Pedestrian Drive: an ideal tool for tackling urban logistics issues

by Other
Published on: November 17, 2022
Updated on: October 13, 2023

Urban logistics is the art and way of transporting packages within cities. In order to facilitate this delivery, street furniture intended for e-commerce has emerged: connected lockers for Click and Collect.

These locker models, which became commonplace in the 2010s, make it possible to overcome the limitations encountered during last mile logistics, more precisely home delivery.

Operation is simple. The delivery person must identify himself on the screen to access the locker module and store the packages. The customer, for his part, must only enter his order collection code received by email or SMS to collect his order.

This technology, which consists of automating hand delivery, presents numerous advantages for users, but also for society:

Gain convenience and save money;
Reduce the carbon footprint of last mile logistics;
Becoming engaged citizens by increasing the impact of local businesses

Using street furniture means being more practical and saving money on delivery

We know that it is now possible to order on the Internet in just 3 clicks. E-retailers have worked a lot on the user experience to make it as intuitive as possible. However, when it comes to picking up the package, the trouble begins! We have all missed the delivery man one day and what follows is an obstacle course. The package was sent to a post office or relay point at times, most of the time, incompatible with our professional and personal lives.

“30% of packages are returned.”

On the other hand, another need specific to e-commerce is developing: the need for parcel returns. Indeed, 30% of packages are returned. Automated lockers, which meet this right of withdrawal, have considerable perks compared to competitors.

This is the case with Colidrop, the automated parcel drop-off/collection system for any operator, designed by OUIDROP. OUIDROP technology is unique: the movement of individual lockers allows modularity and speed in a multitude of configurations. Beyond allowing customers to receive their orders 24/7, Colidrop also offers them the possibility of returning their packages.

Then, parcel collection points help reduce delivery times. Without constraint, the customer can directly collect their packages as they pass, when returning from work for example.

In our opinion, street furniture intended for Click and Collect should be placed in very close locations to be effective. Also called mobility hubs, these zones are the hub of human travel in urban areas. This ensures that customers will pass by these areas during their day, and will have the opportunity to collect their orders themselves.

A grouping of parcel brands in the same place: simplification of withdrawals and saving time

Users highlight the following problem: brands each have their own Click and Collect collection point. Customers therefore have to go to a different location for each package.

However, the installations specialized in Pedestrian Drive are intended to pool all brands. The robotic parcel drop-off/collection system developed by OUIDROP also allows e-commerce parcels, food drives or products from local shops to be delivered. For example, whether you order from Amazon, Zara, H&M, Adidas, Carrefour or any other brand, the packages will be collected from the same location. This pooling of orders simplifies collection and represents, for customers, a significant time saving.

visuel ouidrop blog SprintProject — Our technology, Colidrop, allows us to pool all brands

The Pedestrian Drive brings an economic advantage. Customers, by collecting their packages themselves via automated lockers, make significant savings on shipping costs. Indeed, the cost of last mile delivery in France was 2.4 billion in 2021 compared to 1.4 in 2018.

The ultimate solution for all Click and Collect players

Finally, connected lockers can also serve as a logistical tool between professionals. In fact, a completely different way of transporting packages in the city center exists. All it would take is for the truck delivery person to place the packages in the robotic Click and Collect system. Then, a bicycle delivery man would come and collect the orders to transport them to town. As a result, connected locker systems, such as OUIDROP's Colidrop, have the capacity to become environmentally friendly logistics hubs accessible by professionals and individuals.

Reducing the carbon footprint of the last mile thanks to Pedestrian Drive

The explosion of online orders since the Covid crisis has led to an increase in deliveries.

These have an environmental impact, particularly during the last kilometer.

“In 2019, road transport is the first responsible for GHG emissions in France, representing 94% of emissions from the transport sector.”

Thermal vehicles including delivery trucks emit carbon dioxide, a powerful greenhouse gas (GHG) responsible for global warming.

Also, in 2019, it is estimated that the transport sector caused a release of 138 million tonnes of CO2, which represents 31% of greenhouse gas emissions in France, and that road transport (long logistics -distance and urban) contribute to almost all (94%) of the sector's emissions.

Urban congestion is partly responsible for this CO2 emission. However, this problem of public congestion is partly caused by our consumption practices. In fact, we are used to having our packages delivered individually via this or that online platform.

However, to reduce the ecological impact, good practices are possible. It would be enough to allow customers to collect the package themselves as they pass, to avoid delivery people having to go back and forth to each recipient.

visuel Colidrop blog SprintProject — OUIDROP’s Colidrop in a mobility hub

Urban lockers offer this possibility when they are placed in strategic areas with high human traffic: mobility hubs. For example, by placing this type of furniture in RER stations, TGV stations or even business districts.

Customers will thus be able to collect their packages directly as they pass by and delivery people will no longer have to make unnecessary and polluting return trips.

By choosing automated Click and Collect points, customers increase the impact of local businesses.

Since the covid crisis, civic and associative engagement is more present than ever in society. We see that the French are more and more inclined to help others and to solve the problems that society faces.

“39% of French people believe, since the crisis, that they consume more local products.”

One of the subjects to which the French are committed is the development of local businesses and the need to consume locally. Indeed, the health crisis has strengthened consumers' relationships with their bakeries, greengrocers, cheese shops or small neighborhood shops. Thus, six out of ten French people want to take action to maintain the dynamism of the points of sale that they consider qualitative.

Local businesses are faced with a very specific problem: customers do not always have the time to go to local businesses. As a result, when they are short of time, many turn to large distribution chains which offer online ordering and delivery as quickly as possible, directly to your home.

However, helping local residents to return to local stores is possible thanks to Pedestrian Drive.

By placing automated lockers for Click and Collect, such as OUIDROP's Colidrop, local businesses can ensure delivery to their customers quickly and 24/7. Thus, fans of local shops no longer have to comply with store opening hours, which are often incompatible with a professional life, and therefore discover a completely different way of consuming local.

Revitalize the heart of cities by creating meeting points

The life of a municipality varies depending on political, economic and social issues. Often, the loss of attractiveness and dynamism of a city is linked to a poor economic situation, urban decline or even the aging of the population.

However, technology is a powerful lever for revitalizing the heart of a city. Urban furniture intended for Click and Collect has the capacity to revitalize an area by creating meeting points.

Conclusion: “Becoming consumer actors”

Through their consumption patterns, citizens seek to meet several expectations. Among the latter, we find the desire for practicality and to save money, but not only that... Indeed, beyond being simple consumers, most Click and Collect fans want to become consumers. Thus, many seek to give meaning to their actions and will pay more allegiance to concepts that carry strong values such as ecology and the revitalization of neighborhoods.

Given that the Pedestrian Drive is capable of meeting all of these expectations, we can say that the future of this concept is assured. Innovative technologies, which have flourished around the theme of automated last meter, have all the potential to conquer the hearts of users and become the ultimate solution for all Click and Collect players.