Electric cars bring food orders Convoy-style delivery service Picnic in Bonn
Bonn · Since mid-November, the online supermarket Picnic has been delivering to customers in the Bonn city area. The small, eye-catching electric cars can be seen in convoy time and again. The company explains what it's all about.
By now, people in Bonn should be used to seeing delivery services in the cityscape. A large number of companies have couriers driving through the city - whether on two or four wheels. But some Bonners have noticed the small electric cars of the delivery service Picnic in recent weeks, which seem to be driving in a column of several vehicles one after the other.
The company has now explained what this is all about. The main reason for this is Picnic's special concept. Instead of many individual trips, the delivery service drives so-called milkman routes, as press spokesman Richard Streck calls it. "We developed the modern milkman concept for the last mile," says Streck. "While other services come on demand similar to a taxi, Picnic works more like a bus route." Certain streets in the city are served once a day for this purpose.
According to Streck, the concept should ensure that delivery is more efficient and cost-effective. From the central warehouse in Bornheim, several electric trolleys travel simultaneously in convoy along the same route into the city. "This results in several electric vans driving the first part of the route one after the other," says Streck. In rare cases, Picnic also uses the convoy rides as a means of advertising, because the little runabouts definitely attract attention. "Of course, we always carry out these trips under the premise of neither burdening nor endangering the traffic," Streck emphasises.
With currently 37 employees and 23 vehicles, Picnic serves around 1800 households in Bonn. However, according to the company, the demand for the online supermarket is greater than the current capacities. "We currently have more than 400 people on the waiting list," says Streck. Additional drivers have therefore been hired in recent weeks, he said. Customers can order the goods online from a range of 10,000 products, and the drivers then deliver once a day at fixed times. The company does not charge an additional delivery fee. Picnic's suppliers are Edeka Rhein-Ruhr, bakeries, butchers and farms from the region.
According to the company, it also uses the additional promotional trips to train its drivers, who are not always familiar with the area. In addition, a self-developed navigation software is trained. This software collects data on dangerous spots, for example to warn of sharp bends.
Those who are currently not in Picnic's delivery area or are on the waiting list can switch to other providers. Gorillas and Flink, for example, deliver the ordered shopping within a few minutes by bicycle. Although the delivery services have a smaller assortment than Picnic, they are already on the road in a large part of Bonn's urban area. Rewe's delivery service can also be an alternative for Bonn residents.
Original text: Andreas Dyck and Sofia Grillo / Translation: Mareike Graepel
