Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CroDS (PiggyBaggy – the Uber of parcel delivery)
Reporting period: 2014-10-01 to 2015-04-30
The feasibility study was started to test the PiggyBaggy crowdsourced delivery solution for home deliveries with a grocery retailer, a postal company, and a public library. The objectives were to identify a business model and technology features of a commercial solution suitable for these partners in Finland and in Europe.
During the project, various challenges were discovered that prevented the joint development of the solution with the targeted partners. The reasons were mostly organization internal processes that were not designed for bringing unconventional external innovations to the corporations or the public sector.
The challenges were addressed by starting collaborations with alternative partners in the retail and logistics sectors, directly with user communities, and with key public authorities. The negotiations and testing validated multiple user experience and business assumptions. The collaborations with public authorities identified a roadmap for achieving concrete public sector support for crowdsourced deliveries. The market study identified the accessible market for the solution and the key differentiation of the solution in the crowdsourced delivery space.
The study identified adjustments in the approach required to develop the solution with the retail, logistics and public sector partners. It demonstrated the flexibility of the technical platform and the capability to rapidly change the service in response to user testing. It supported service differentiation and networking with a diverse group of stakeholders.
The conclusion is to continue the development of the PiggyBaggy crowdsourced delivery solution. The basic concept is feasible in the light of the study findings and industry discussions, and has not been developed elsewhere. The development will opportunistically target business cases with progressive organizations committing to integrated end-to-end user experience. At the same time the maturity of a more generic solution is evolved in order to quickly target new collaboration opportunities with organizations reacting to the rapidly transforming market.
The challenges were addressed by starting collaborations with alternative partners in the retail and logistics sectors, directly with user communities, and with key public authorities. The negotiations and testing validated multiple user experience and business assumptions. The collaborations with public authorities identified a roadmap for achieving concrete public sector support for crowdsourced deliveries. The market study identified the accessible market for the solution and the key differentiation of the solution in the crowdsourced delivery space.
The study identified adjustments in the approach required to develop the solution with the retail, logistics and public sector partners. It demonstrated the flexibility of the technical platform and the capability to rapidly change the service in response to user testing. It supported service differentiation and networking with a diverse group of stakeholders.
The conclusion is to continue the development of the PiggyBaggy crowdsourced delivery solution. The basic concept is feasible in the light of the study findings and industry discussions, and has not been developed elsewhere. The development will opportunistically target business cases with progressive organizations committing to integrated end-to-end user experience. At the same time the maturity of a more generic solution is evolved in order to quickly target new collaboration opportunities with organizations reacting to the rapidly transforming market.
The targeted eventual impact continues to be the improvement of the transport system, consumer transport service availability, and the efficiency of the operations of larger partners in the retail, logistics and public sectors. However, based on the results of the study, these impacts are slower to achieve because of the organizational inertia of the partners.