Digitec Galaxus to roll out same-day delivery to 60% of Swiss households

Digitec Galaxus now delivers to customers in Swiss metropolitan areas on the same day if desired. The free delivery option was previously available in Zurich as well as areas to the east of the city. Now the online retailer is expanding the service to seven further regions north of the Alps (see map):

• From 8 August: Zurich West, including Thalwil and Affoltern am Albis
• From 8 August: Aarau, Lenzburg, Baden, Wohlen, Bremgarten and surrounding areas
• From 29 August: East Switzerland, including St. Gallen, Winterthur, Frauenfeld, Wil, Kreuzlingen and Schaffhausen
• From 12 September: Basel, Liestal and surrounding areas
• From 19 September: Bern, Thun, Fribourg, Biel, La Neuveville and surrounding areas
• From 3 October: Central Switzerland, including Lucerne, Zug and Sursee
• From 31 October: West Switzerland, including Geneva, Lausanne, Vevey, Montreux, Neuchâtel, Yverdon-les-Bains, Le Locle and surrounding areas

Together, the delivery areas cover around 60 per cent of Swiss households. «We’re proud that we can now deliver to customers outside Zurich on the same day too,» says Peter Weingartner, who as First & Last Mile Leader is responsible for the delivery of Digitec and Galaxus parcels.

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. If all products in an order can be sent by flash delivery, the option is automatically recommended to customers at checkout. Order deadline is 11 a.m.

The shipping partner for flash delivery is the Swiss Post subsidiary notime, which specialises in same-day deliveries. Since January 2020, notime has delivered around half a million flash deliveries to Digitec Galaxus customers. «We’re very pleased that together we can now roll out this pioneering offer to the majority of Swiss households,» says notime CEO Michael Hauser. For flash delivery to Digitec Galaxus customers, notime is setting up eight regional distribution centres in existing postal locations.

Speedy but green

notime delivers 80 per cent of flash deliveries using Swiss Post’s CO[[small:2]]-neutral e-small vehicles. The notime couriers take over these after the postal workers finish their shift at 5 p.m. The orders usually come in between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. By means of an SMS link, customers can choose whether the courier should ring the doorbell or whether the package should be left in a safe place. More details on flash delivery can be found on our Help Centre page.

Same-day deliveries from Digitec Galaxus are transported by notime without additional packaging material, i.e. without envelopes, cardboard or plastic pads. «This has already enabled us to save over 100 tonnes of cardboard since 2020,» says Peter Weingartner. «Now we’re multiplying those reductions in one fell swoop.» Same-day delivery costs Digitec Galaxus more than standard postal delivery, but «it’s better for a contribution to climate protection and makes our customers happy.»

1 in 4 deliveries flash

The success in Zurich and the east of the city, where the delivery option has been available since January 2020 and April 2023 respectively, proves that customers actually like flash delivery. Within the previous order window of 7 p.m. the evening before until 1 pm. on the day of delivery, 26 per cent of customers opted for flash delivery. «We expect a similar level of interest in the new regions,» Peter says.

What do you think of flash delivery at Digitec Galaxus? Which products would you want to use the flash delivery for – and which ones would you rather not? Let us know in the comments!