Initial Situation
- An automotive OEM with a leading position in the van market identified a special type of express last-mile delivery providers as a potentially relevant customer segment
- The client was pushing the sales of a newly developed digital solution, therefore wanted to have a better understanding of this specific group of providers, in order to better estimate their attractiveness as a sales target
- This segment being a niche, high level of understanding was challenging for the client without bringing in market intelligence expertise
Project Objectives
- Identification and short analysis of relevant providers in the selected express delivery segment in Europe, considering specialization degree and geographical coverage
- Evaluation of the customers, especially their need for such deliveries, transported goods and drop-off points currently in use
- By combining secondary research with expert interviews from both side of the isle, a complete and confirmed picture of the market can be deducted and can serve as a decision making support for future budgets and planning
challenges we faced
- Niche market of overnight deliveries, especially with vans used as drop-off points
- Challenging search for single customers, that not only use this type of express delivery service, but actually have parcels delivered in their vans directly (the whole focus topic of the project)
Leading providers
Secondary research to identify relevant providers in Europe, followed by the deep dive of ca. 30 leading providers regarding factors such as company size development, geographic coverage, served customer segments and available drop-off points
Findings from secondary research
Key takeaways on consolidated level highlighting positioning, digitalization affinity and success of such companies
Customer segmentation
Customers segments identified in the previous module allowed the research and expert discussions to take place with leading users of such express services
Focal points
General demand, use cases, transported goods, van modifications, pain points and international transport were the focal points of the analysis
Recommendations for action
In conclusion, by looking at both providers and customers via expert interviews and secondary research allowed us to deduct a holistic picture of the market and to provide our client a clearly reasoned recommendation for action list