Same-day delivery at the Swiss online supermarket
Same-Day Delivery: At the Swiss online supermarket coop.ch, customers can have goods delivered on the same day they place their order, choosing from up to 30 appointments that are kept to the hour. Behind it is a tour planning solution from Wanko.
Real shopping experiences are not only to be found in classy boutiques. This is true at least when you order food, wine, spirits or everyday items from coop.ch. The Swiss online supermarket offers its customers a unique delivery service that is known to delight not only the logistics experts among consumers. Because since the introduction of order processing in 2013, the Coop subsidiary’s sales and customer numbers have been growing significantly faster than the market. The recipe for success is fully automatic dynamic route optimization with the help of Wanko’s “PraCar” software solution, which is constantly being further developed and improved.
During the online ordering process, customers can select a binding delivery date, which is then met to the hour – depending on the region and time of order, delivery takes place on the same day. This extremely high delivery quality is unrivaled in Switzerland. In total, customers can choose from up to 30 dates within the following ten days for each order. For each day there are morning, afternoon and evening appointments to choose from. Deliveries are made from 8:00 to 22:00.
"With Pracar, we were able to say goodbye to our previous concept of rigid framework tours and get optimal results with very high utilization rates of all trucks despite the extremely short-term planning."
Philippe Huwyler | coop.ch CEO
Permanent dynamic optimization
“For us, it was clear from the very beginning that we could only implement hourly delivery on the day of the order with dynamic route planning,”
reports coop.ch boss Philippe Huwyler.
“With PraCar, we were able to say goodbye to our previous concept of rigid framework tours and get optimal results with very high utilization rates of all trucks despite the extremely short-term planning,
” Huwyler continues. He sees the weight control integrated into the route planning, which prevents overloading of the vehicles, as another advantage of the Wanko solution.
Every day, up to 5,500 customers are supplied with goods from the dry, fresh and frozen product ranges from the two logistics sites in Spreitenbach and Bussigny. The demands on central scheduling are correspondingly high. The solution concept implements dynamic route optimization for the individual tours and trucks. There is no fixed area allocation for the tours and around 250 delivery vehicles. Instead, new orders arriving during the day are dynamically assigned to tours. The route planning server immediately checks each requested delivery date for its impact or feasibility, even while the customer is still placing his order. As orders progress, additional tours are opened. But also over the existing tours a permanent automatic optimization takes place.
Two dispatchers for 450 tours
The approximately 450 tours per day are transmitted to the two warehouses in Spreitenbach and Bussigny two hours before the order acceptance deadline so that picking there can start early. In addition to the two distribution centers, coop.ch operates several distribution hubs that are supplied daily with pre-commissioned tours by direct transport from Spreitenbach.
But even after picking has started, more orders keep arriving in the background. It may happen that orders have to be shifted from one tour to another. In doing so, PraCar automatically checks whether the change effort is worthwhile. The two dispatchers – in fact, the entire work is handled by just two employees as standard – can intervene in the process at any time and set their own priorities.
"It's always possible to see where we are in the process based on a status and therefore what the next step is for a tour."
Peter Belau | coop.ch responsible for logistics software
Intervention possible at any time
A monitor shows for each day and each area the utilization and the number of orders and vehicles for the next day. In addition, they can view the current tour situation on a map by selecting a delivery area.
“If one of the dispatchers identifies any further optimization potential, he can manually intervene at any time and finally complete the respective tour,”
says Huwyler. At the latest after the order acceptance deadline, the tours are sifted here and loading is released. In the course of this, the tours formed are transferred to the SAP merchandise management system.
The degree of digitalization has been further increased in recent years: With the tour status concept, Wanko and coop.ch have now done away with all paperwork or Excel spreadsheets that are not absolutely necessary and streamlined processes. Information to be entered manually is always entered by the person who has the data. If any information needs to be supplemented for the further process, the person concerned is actively informed about it by the system. “It is always possible to see by means of a status where we are in the process and therefore what the next work step is for a tour. The automated communication by mail also informs the responsible persons directly about the status change relevant for them.explains Peter Belau, who is responsible for the entire logistics software at coop.
"Wanko has reengineered the processes so cleverly that our customers now have no waiting time at all."
Peter Belau | coop.ch responsible for logistics software
Complete route planning with one employee
For dispatchers, this has greatly simplified planning tasks. There is significantly less need for active communication, while transparency has increased. On this basis, the entire nationwide route planning for the household delivery business can at times be handled by just one employee.
When the order is completed, the tours are transferred to the mobile on-board computers via mobile radio. The telematics solution for this also comes from Wanko. The scanner integrated in the device ensures correct loading and unloading. The receipt is made via signature on the display. Customers are enthusiastic about the
“great ordering convenience and the reliability of the delivery service again and again,”
, Huwyler reports. This is all the more true since the Swiss are known worldwide for their love of punctuality. The minimal waiting times within the specified time windows are particularly positively highlighted. This makes it easier, especially for working people, to optimally plan the receipt of their delivery.
Unbureaucratic cooperation
However, the first positive impression of coop.ch is already made during the ordering process. This is because the mouse click and the display of the appointment suggestions take place almost simultaneously. This is ensured by an improved road server in 2022, which performs the distance and route calculations running in the background extremely quickly. These calculations form the most time-consuming process of an optimization and are also its basis.
“Wanko has changed the processes so cleverly that our customers now have no waiting times at all,”
, notes Peter Belau.
Conclusion: The unique route planning system Pracar has been in productive use across the board at coop.ch since the beginning of 2013. The service offered is very well received by customers in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. One of the reasons for this is that for the time saved and the high level of convenience, there are no additional costs apart from the delivery fee – the prices do not differ from those of the stores. Under these conditions, coop.ch’s market share and sales will continue to grow.
Background: coop.ch
Founded in 2001, the online supermarket coop.ch is part of the Swiss Coop Group. The Konsumgenossenschaft is one of the leading retail companies in Switzerland. Customers can choose online – at the same prices as in the store – from a range of more than 18,000 everyday articles and more than 2,000 special vintage wines, as well as over 450 select spirits.
With its own delivery fleet, Coop.ch offers hourly delivery on the same day as the order is placed. In many regions of Switzerland and Liechtenstein, customers can choose online from up to 30 delivery dates that are met to the hour.
Press contact Wanko
| WANKO Informationslogistik GmbH | KfdM – Kommunikation für den Mittelstand |
| Christian Schulz Gewerbestraße 1 D-83404 Ainring Tel: +49 8654 483-0 E-Mail: sales@wanko.de www.wanko.de | Marcus Walter Schulstraße 29 D-84183 Niederviehbach Tel: +49 8702 948 174 Mobil: +49 170 77 36 70 5 E-Mail: walter@kfdm.eu |
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