Ramassage unique : tester le 1er km mutualisé
Pilot project for merchant pickups by a single carrier on behalf of another.
The project aimed to offer merchants a shared pickup option among multiple carriers through the Envoi Montréal platform. This was intended to reduce the number of carrier visits and consolidate the “first mile.”
Project description
Nearly one-third of merchants using the Envoi Montréal platform to ship their parcels work with multiple carriers on the same day. This generates additional mileage for each pickup. The idea of the project was therefore to test a single pickup by one of these carriers on behalf of the others.
The pilot project was conducted with two carriers (Courant Plus and Purolator) and 15 volunteer merchants from the Plateau Mont-Royal to test the service through the Envoi Montréal platform. The customer journey was maintained, and the focus of the pilot was operational feasibility. Pickups were carried out by Courant Plus using bicycles or electric vehicles. Parcels were brought to the Colibri Iberville urban distribution center. At the end of the day, Purolator collected the parcels picked up on its behalf to deliver them to their recipients, meeting the scheduled delivery times.
The pilot project was conducted in the fall of 2021.
The underwhelming results did not allow for the development of a Phase 2.
Results and learnings
66% of the volunteer merchants used the single-pickup service
80% of eligible short‑distance shipments were picked up in a single collection.
Only 10% of long‑distance shipments were collected in a single pickup.
A restrictive eligibility scope for the pilot project.
All parcels to be shipped from the same store were not necessarily included in the single pickup, which caused errors or difficulties in sorting.
Challenges
Complicated transfer
Coordination between the two carriers involved in the pilot project was not integrated into their tracking tools, causing delays in parcel delivery.
Low volumes: Few incentives for merchants to choose the single‑pickup option on the Envoi Montréal platform.
The choice of single pickup was seen as an effort or a constraint with no visible impact on reducing the number of trucks on the streets.
This pilot project was made possible thanks to the collaboration of:
Coop Carbone
Project Lead
Centre Québécois du Commerce de Détail
Co‑leader of the project
Machool
Partner
Purolator
Partner
Courant Plus
Partner
Ville de Montréal
Financial support
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