Austrian Post: Branch Network Planning & Parcel Delivery

How WIGeoWeb Helps Austrian Post Optimize Branch and Parcel Station Planning

The question of “Where?” is more critical to Austrian Post than almost any other company. After all, addresses are part of the core business of Austrian Post when it comes to delivering letters or parcels.

In addition, there are two other areas where Austrian Post needs answers to the question of “Where?”:

1. Branch network planning: The Postal Market Act stipulates that all Austrians must have access to a nearby post office or postal partner. No one should have to travel unreasonable distances to retrieve their parcel.
2. Parcel pickup/parcel pickup notice: Anyone who receives a parcel and is not at home when it is delivered will receive a parcel pickup notice. This notice indicates where the parcel can be collected.

In both cases, Austrian Post uses the geomarketing software WIGeoWeb: on the one hand, to find the right post office branches and locations, and on the other, to determine the pickup location for parcels, be it a branch, a post office partner, or a self-service station.

How Austrian Post uses WIGeoWeb for branch network planning

Austrian Post operates branches and locations throughout Austria, ensuring that the Austrian population has reliable access to postal services nationwide. However, it is not up to Austrian Post how far their branches can be from the residents; that is stipulated in the Postal Market Act.

“Since we have to comply with the legal requirements of the Postal Market Act regarding the distance between branch locations and postal partners, we have to plan our branch locations based on different criteria than many retailers. Unlike food retailers, for example, we are not dependent on high-frequency locations.” 
Simone Seemann-Ortner, Head of the Geo & Address Services at Austrian Post

What data is incorporated into the Austrian Post branch network planning?

Package Delivery

For supermarket chains and many other retailers, expected foot traffic from their target group is a crucial factor in choosing a location. For Austrian Post, however, such criteria play only a minor role in location planning. More important, for example, is that access to the branch is guaranteed for parcel delivery without obstructing traffic.

In addition to the legal requirements, further criteria for branch network planning, postal partner locations and self-service stations include:

• Demographic data such as population in the catchment area
• Distances and times required by residents in the catchment area to reach the branch, post office partner, or self-service station
• Information on opening hours (to realistically depict the attractiveness of post office locations)
• Visitor frequency and comparative experience from other Austrian Post locations

This and further information are graphically presented and spatially analyzed on the virtual map in WIGeoWeb. Potential locations can be evaluated for their suitability as a high-traffic Austrian Post location.

How does Austrian Post use WIGeoWeb to plan branch locations?

To find the best locations, WIGeoWeb performs automated calculations in the background and incorporates proven geomarketing methods. Among others, these include: 

• Gravity analysis and the underlying Huff model: This calculates how many people are likely to visit a post office at a specific location. It can also be used to calculate how customer flows would change if a branch were relocated from one location to another. Gravity analysis measures the attractiveness of a location, in other words the likelihood that customers will visit it from their home or workplace.
• the Greenfield analysis, a subcategory of white spot analysis: Here, location planning is carried out virtually “on a blank slate”. In other words, it assumes there are no existing locations. The GIS software uses data to determine where the best white spots would be if you were planning your branch network or locations completely from scratch.

How geomarketing supports Austrian Post in planning parcel pickup

Anyone not at home when a parcel is delivered receives a parcel pickup notice from Austrian Post. It states where and when the parcel can be collected, for example, at a nearby post office, a postal partner, or a self-service station.

But how do you choose the right pickup location? A number of factors and data influence this decision, including:

• the distance between the original delivery location (e.g., the home of the recipient) and the pickup location
• the current capacity of the branches or self-service locations

The postal carrier has to quickly decide which pickup location is best for the recipient, and this is where the BenTo application comes in, powered by the geomarketing software WIGeoWeb. This provides the base data for an app that runs on the handheld devices of the postal carriers. This app ensures that the postal carrier knows where to take the package immediately after an unsuccessful delivery attempt. The parcel pickup notice containing the information is promptly printed and left in the recipient's mailbox.