SwipBox: tackling the e-commerce explosion
Post&Parcel speaks to Jens Rom, CEO of SwipBox, to find out how the company has risen to the challenges of the pandemic and how it is preparing for peak.
How has SwipBox evolved during the pandemic?
The pandemic caused SwipBox to re-think and focus, which is always a good thing. SwipBox was already on a very steep growth path well before the pandemic struck, so our challenge was to maintain the momentum through the pandemic. We experienced that the speed of decision-making at our clients slowed down a bit, at least initially, which caused some delays in our development. But later in the pandemic it was evident to all that the pandemic also caused e-commerce to virtually explode and operators across the world realized they were short of capacity. That brought back the steam and 2021 will – by far – be our best year ever.
What do you consider the challenges and opportunities of the pandemic for the delivery sector?
Challenges almost always are opportunities in disguise. I think it was Churchill who said, “never let a good crisis go to waste”. The pandemic has complicated the delivery chain, particularly last mile, because of increased demands to hygiene measures. This has led to new standards, for instance contact free deliveries, which in turn has increased the interest for screenless parcel lockers and similar solutions. They’ll now be the new normal, even after we have got rid of the pandemic.
Why do you think out of home delivery has become so popular?
Because home delivery actually isn’t very convenient for the customers, when you think of it. You’ll have to be available at the front door whenever the parcel arrives. I accept that the couriers are much better now at predicting a narrower time window, but you still need to be ready. Out of home solutions put the customers back in charge – in particular a near-to-home parcel locker with 24/7 availability.
What does the next 12 months hold for SwipBox?
More of the same. Exponential growth, both in terms of delivered lockers and new clients, and then a number of new innovative solution to build on to what we believe is already a market-leading proposition.
How will you be supporting the upcoming peak period?
Our delivery capacity – and by that I mean parcel lockers delivered to expand our client’s networks – has gone up 6-fold since the last peak, so we are ready to deliver whatever our clients need to cope with the peak period.
About Jens Rom
Jens has more than 30 years’ experience at top management level in domestic and international companies. In his last role he was at Posten Norge/Bring as Managing Director in Denmark and Finland. Prior to that, he spearheaded a green field launch of IKANO Bank in the UK.