Same-day delivery: Zurich’s celebrating and Geneva’s shrugging

Alex Hämmerli

15.3.2024

Translation: Elicia Payne

Galaxus and Digitec’s flash delivery service is being received very differently by customers. In German-speaking Swiss cities, people want their orders to arrive as quickly as possible, whereas in French-speaking Switzerland, customers are much more relaxed. Plus, older people are more patient with online shopping than youngsters. On the whole, customers choose flash delivery in 27 out of 100 purchases.

Faster often means better when it comes to online shopping. That’s why Galaxus and Digitec offer same-day delivery to 60 per cent of Swiss households. Flash delivery is available for all products that are in stock at Digitec Galaxus’s warehouses in Switzerland, weigh less than 30 kg and are smaller than 60 × 60 × 100 cm.

The data from July 2023 to (and including) February 2024 shows that in same-day areas, customers choose flash delivery for 27 out of 100 purchases. The order window for the delivery option is open during the week from 9 p.m. to 11 a.m., as purchases from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. usually arrive faster with regular next-day delivery, except on Sundays.

Demand for same-day deliveries increases at the end of the working week. The peak can be seen on Fridays, presumably because people realise they want a new games console or mascara for the weekend. Or when the diaper supply won’t last till Monday… uh-oh! Orders placed with flash delivery on a Saturday from 11 a.m. onwards, on the other hand, do not arrive until Monday evening. As a result, the number of orders is lower on Sundays.

So far, flash delivery has been particularly popular in German-speaking Switzerland, especially in the canton of Zurich. Zurich customers go for flash delivery in three out of ten orders. In the cantons of Schwyz, Zug, Solothurn and Basel-Landschaft, it’s a quarter of the orders.

So far, the most patient customers have been in the canton of Basel-Stadt and in French-speaking Switzerland. In Geneva, customers only select flash delivery in 18 out of 100 orders. «I assume that our French-speaking customers are generally more relaxed about their online purchases,» says Peter Weingartner, who as First & Last Mile Leader is responsible for the delivery of parcels from Digitec and Galaxus. «However, we’ve only been offering flash delivery in French-speaking Switzerland since the end of October 2023.» Peter assumes that the rate will also increase here over time as the delivery option becomes more widely known. «But they’ll probably never come close to the numbers of the busy Zurich residents.»

There’s also a small urban-rural divide when it comes to flash delivery. In city centres, customers choose same-day delivery in around 28 out of 100 orders, while in urban and rural areas, the figure is just under 26 out of 100.

A breakdown by postal code region reveals particularly large differences. In Dübendorf (zip code 8044), customers opt for flash delivery in 45 out of 100 orders – a Swiss record. The postal code region 4051 in Basel City, on the other hand, trails behind with flash deliveries being just 3.7 per cent. This drags the percentage down for the entire canton of Basel-Stadt.

Overall, the same-day rate is particularly high in the metropolitan region of the city of Zurich. However, there are two exceptions here, namely postal code areas 8001 and 8005. «This can be explained by the proximity to our branch in Zurich’s industry quarter,» says Peter. «It also seems to be very attractive for our customers if you can pick your order up from the store on the same day.» A similar picture can be seen in all postal code areas where Digitec Galaxus operates a store, e.g. in Wohlen (5610) in Aargau, Kriens (6010), Geneva (1202), Lausanne (1007) or Bern (3008) – and also in Basel.

There are also major differences between the generations. The correlation is clear: the younger a customer is, the more they’re in a hurry. An under-20 customer chooses express delivery for four out of ten orders, while the over-80s are in a hurry for fewer than one in seven purchases. The differences between the sexes are smaller: men opt for the same-day option slightly more often than women.

To conclude the analysis, we looked at the data from product categories, and it shows those who order products for the garden or for the car want to use them particularly quickly. Sporting goods and household items follow in second and third place in the charts. On the other hand, customers can easily wait longer for a dummy, a RAM upgrade for their PC or fresh printer paper.

What do you think of the fast delivery from Galaxus and Digitec? Which kind of orders do you prefer flash delivery for? Do you have any requests or suggestions for us? Let us know in the comments!

Alex Hämmerli

Senior Public Relations Manager

Alex.Haemmerli@digitecgalaxus.ch

At Digitec and Galaxus, I’m in charge of communication with journalists and bloggers. Good stories are my passion – I am always up to date.

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