Market entry strategy for Germany and Austria through collection and delivery points: Alza Case Study

Monika Vidličková

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Alza has had much success with their parcel lockers, AlzaBoxes, which became an essential delivery option during the Covid-19 outbreak. They wish to expand this service and make AlzaBoxes into an open network shared with other business partners. After successfully establishing this concept in several countries, Alza wants to use lockers in Germany and Austria. These countries pose different challenges and already have dominant players such as DHL. This work aims to investigate whether Alza should expand to the Austrian and German market via DHL parcel lockers or their own AlzaBoxes. To answer this question, desk research has been conducted to evaluate the possibility of leasing. The results showed that if Alza wants to have an open network, they should not rent DHL parcel lockers unless the countries are risky. Then the desk research has also analyzed markets attractiveness and riskiness. To support this research, a survey has been distributed among the inhabitants. The results demonstrated the attractiveness of both markets. Germany is more open to parcel lockers and has more vigorous competition in the locker market than Austria. However, Austria creates an opportunity for new entrants like Alza to dominate the market quickly by being the less developed market. Subsequently, all the insights from previous research were tied together in a feasibility study, which concluded that all options are profitable but at different levels. Renting will give Alza a stable income, while AlzaBoxes expansion will need significant initial investment and generate much higher income, especially in Germany. Since the combination of e-commerce and logistics business models can be tricky, the final suggestion is first to enter Austria, which requires lower investment and is easier to take over. Based on the results, further expansion to Germany can be considered.

Abstract:

Alza has had much success with their parcel lockers, AlzaBoxes, which became an essential delivery option during the Covid-19 outbreak. They wish to expand this service and make AlzaBoxes into an open network shared with other business partners. After successfully establishing this concept in several countries, Alza wants to use lockers in Germany and Austria. These countries pose different challenges and already have dominant players such as DHL. This work aims to investigate whether Alza should expand to the Austrian and German market via DHL parcel lockers or their own AlzaBoxes. To answer this question, desk research has been conducted to evaluate the possibility of leasing. The results showed that if Alza wants to have an open network, they should not rent DHL parcel lockers unless the countries are risky. Then the desk research has also analyzed markets attractiveness and riskiness. To support this research, a survey has been distributed among the inhabitants. The results demonstrated the attractiveness of both markets. Germany is more open to parcel lockers and has more vigorous competition in the locker market than Austria. However, Austria creates an opportunity for new entrants like Alza to dominate the market quickly by being the less developed market. Subsequently, all the insights from previous research were tied together in a feasibility study, which concluded that all options are profitable but at different levels. Renting will give Alza a stable income, while AlzaBoxes expansion will need significant initial investment and generate much higher income, especially in Germany. Since the combination of e-commerce and logistics business models can be tricky, the final suggestion is first to enter Austria, which requires lower investment and is easier to take over. Based on the results, further expansion to Germany can be considered.

Keywords

last-mile delivery, parcel lockers, e-commerce

Keywords

e-commerce, parcel lockers, last-mile delivery

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 25. 1. 2021

Thesis defence

• Date of defence: 16. 6. 2021
• Supervisor: Ladislav Tyll
• Reader: Karel Pernica

Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze

Master programme:
International Management