With this, both companies enhance their services and make the most of their capacities, where Mallplaza provides infrastructure and capillarity thanks to its strategic locations in the city and Starken provides all its logistical knowhow.
With this agreement, the two companies seek to reach about 2,000 parcels handled per month and they plan to expand this system to all Mallplaza points in Chile that have the Click&Collect system with storage.
Santiago, 28 February 2023 – A strategic partnership between Mallplaza and Starken was launched in late 2022, which transforms Mallplaza’s Click&Collect points into logistics hubs for the reception and shipment of packages, managed by Starken. Positive results can already be seen two months after it started.
For Christopher Banfield, B2B Omnichannel & Strategy Manager at Mallplaza, the partnership is fundamental to the company’s omnichannel strategy: “The logistics pillar must be incorporated for our urban centers to be considered truly omnichannel. This is why we have deepened our strategy in this area over the last few years, which will allow our locations to become logistics hubs in the middle of the city. Thus, we not only offer solutions for the end customer, but also help to reduce friction in the process of sending entrepreneurs’ and tenants’ products. In fact, in this latter segment we are testing pilot solutions for the logistics process between points operated by the same party. For example, if a store that is in our urban center and needs to send something through Click&Collect but does not have the product available, we can arrange its collection from the nearest store and take it to the Click&Collect point.”
The partnership has been implemented in stages, the first being pickup of paid packages. It recently moved on to a second stage, adding the modality of package pickup under the payment on delivery modality, in addition to the possibility of sending items using the self-service totems installed in Mallplaza’s Click&Collect points.
“The new service totems we have installed in Mallplaza are in line with the strategy we have implemented in Starken to enhance our leadership in last mile innovation and are added to the implementation of fully robotic 24/7 self-service branches, a pioneering service in Chile, and the Dark Courier smart stock management service, along with our automated distribution center for lighter loads,” Explained Starken Innovation Manager Nicolás Morelli.
In line with the above, the executive explained that the totems will be available in an extended period and that customers will be able to ship their parcels everywhere in Chile from Monday to Sunday between 10:00 and 20:00 (for packages of up to 25 kg and measuring 50x50x60). Depending on the shopping center, the service will even be available on holidays.
Thanks to this partnership, they will be installed in the urban centers in Santiago and regions that have Click&Collect services, including Mallplaza Vespucio, an omnichannel urban center in La Florida with a metro station nearby, facilitating access for the entire public.
With this and other logistics solutions, Mallplaza states that, in the future, shipments from stores in its urban centers can be dispatched from its urban centers and not from large distribution centers. This will allow the delivery offering to end customers to be enhanced, with planned deliveries in specific timeframes or more quickly, generating a differentiating factor for tenants and entrepreneurs.
This joint work allows both companies to make the most of their capacities, where Mallplaza provides infrastructure and capillarity thanks to its strategic locations in the city and Starken provides all its logistical knowhow.
This, with the aim of expanding the service’s user base and being able to not just reach end customers, but also entrepreneurs and tenants. In sum, the objective is to reach 2,000 parcels handled per month and the plan is to expand this system to all Mallplaza points in Chile that have the Click&Collect system with storage.
