The German railway company, Deutsche Bahn, is trying out a new way of shopping.
The system is simple, commuters or visitors shop online, or with an app, and pick up their shopping from special lockers at the station on their way home. Without having to worry about opening times, they then use a unique code to pick up their purchases from the DB BahnhofsBox. Refrigerated lockers can be used for perishable products and food and standard lockers for other products.
“With the smart BahnhofsBox we have created a completely new way of shopping for our customers by developing service-oriented and digital products at the station,” stated André Zeug Chairman of the Board of DB Station & Service.
The DB BahnhofsBox as pick-up point for online shopping
The use of the box is nearly unlimited, because the lockers function as an open transfer platform. For example, the box can be used to deliver dry-cleaning or to deposit keys for rental cars and holiday homes.
With the DB BahnhofsBox, the pick-up and drop-off of shopping can be integrated into the everyday routine. Going to the shops and waiting for a delivery are a thing of the past. As soon as the shopping is deposited in the locker the customer receives a message on their smartphone.
The trial will start at the end of March in Stuttgart and at the end of April in Berlin. At these locations food shopping from EDEKA supermarkets can be collected from the refrigerated lockers. The BahnhofsBox is presented at the ITB 2017 Trade Show and more information about the lockers can be found at: www.bahnhofsbox.de.
The DB BahnhofsBox is a pilot and if successful will be installed in selected locations throughout Germany. The potential is considerable, because it can be implemented at the 5,000 stations in Germany. By 2018, the German rail company, Deutsche Bahn, will have invested about a billion Euros in digitalization alone. Digital technologies play a key role in the development of new services in the quality program, Future Rail Travel, which should make this mode of transport even more attractive.