Online shopping in the city Virtual shopping trip in Bonn
Bonn · Deutsche Post has launched a new platform for inner city shops, making shops in the city accessible to customers round the clock.
The Deutsche Post DHL online project for retailers predominantly in Bonn city centre and the surrounding catchment area is ready to go. After months of preparation, the Post now wants to launch it online at the beginning of this week at the start of the Christmas trade. All citizens will have the chance to virtually browse through the shops in the city round the clock, to purchase and to have the selected goods conveniently delivered to their home. The new internet platform, developed by the Post as a pilot project, is called “AllyouneedCity” and is aimed exclusively at fixed trade in the city.
Managing director of DHL-Paket, Achim Dünnwald told the GA that around 90 city traders were participating. These include many traditional shops such as Knauber, Karstadt, Van Dorp and Kröber Hören und Sehen. The background: national online-trade has been damaging fixed trade for years, especially in the inner cities. Dünnwald said the online market accounts for around ten per cent of sales, and this figure is rising.
“Those who have understood that, also need to take part in our attractive project,” says Dünnwald, explaining the high number of Bonn businesses that have so far registered for the pilot project. “We are convinced Bonn customers will very quickly learn to really appreciate these new purchasing opportunities in their city.” DHL project manager, Thomas Kempkes, reported that Deutsche Post had a done a lot of information work in advance and had spoken with almost every retailer personally.
This is how the “AllyouneedCity” platform in Bonn works: the retailers in the city present themselves and their products in a virtual shop, in a shop window or by catalogue on the Post’s local online platform. The customer selects the goods, orders them and the Post delivers them to their home, in a shopping bag or a box, which only needs the name of the customer and a code. The retailer therefore does not have the hassle of additional packaging and a shipping label.
Of course the service is not free of charge: the Post will issue a bill for Euro 9.90 for a home delivery within two hours of the order. The retailer decides whether or not the customer pays the charges. Delivery the day after the order will be cheaper: it will still cost Euro 6.50. The customer can select a desired time window for the delivery of the goods. And if you do not like something, the goods can also be returned with the Post’s help, unless the customer wants to return them himself, which, of course, should remain possible. Dünnwald firmly believes that this project “will strengthen customer’s loyalty to shops in the city in the long run,” especially as they will not have to deal with anonymous people, as in relevant online trade, but with generally trusted faces of shop owners and their employees.
Original text: Lisa Inhoffen. Translated by Kate Carey.
