Wake-Up Call: Your competitors are turning deliveries into profit. Are you?!

Imagine your customers picking up their online orders on their next errand run in your store – yes, this is what we’re talking about. And we call it a retail-driven open network (RDON).

So, instead of having multiple third-party couriers delivering customers’ orders, you take ownership of the customer journey. Thus, directly increases the revenue by turning your grocery retail store into a logistics hub.

In this article, we’ll explain how you can benefit from it, share our successful case with Sweden’s leading grocery retailer – ICA, and delve into the details of what exactly it is.

How can my business benefit from a retail-driven open network?

Implementing the open network model comes with several benefits. One felt immediately, and the others added to profits over time. Here are a few you’ll see with unobserved eyes.

👉 Increased foot traffic = More sales.

Whether you’ve been in business for a long time or not, everyone knows that higher foot traffic generally leads to increased sales, with strong correlations observed across various retail sectors.

Customers coming to the store to pick up parcels are already on-site and are highly likely to make impulse purchases of groceries and other goods.

👉 You’re creating an additional revenue stream.

With a retail-driven open network, you transform retail space into a paid logistics hub, generating direct income by charging carriers to use the shared, automated network.

👉 It gives you a competitive advantage.

You can start your retail-driven open network model as a central and convenient last-mile hub.

This elevates the brand and provides a superior service compared to competitors who only offer single-carrier or manual pickup options.

👉 You fully own the branded logistics experience.

By not outsourcing customer interactions to third-party providers, your brand becomes synonymous with seamless convenience and a higher-quality service experience.

Sweden’s biggest grocery retailer is a leading example of the model’s success.

This is not just theory; it is a proven growth model implemented by Sweden’s largest retailer – ICA.

ICA has partnered with us to transform parcel delivery processes across our nationwide stores. They use our leading robotic solutions to automate manual pick-up points in their stores. The successful pilot project was completed in April 2022, and by the start of 2024, we had automated 75 in-store pick-up points.

By integrating a strategic parcel management solution, ICA has transformed its stores into central hubs for last-mile delivery. The results immediately validated the model’s success.

Thus, ICA is generating a massive new revenue stream.

The retail-driven open network model with ICA has proven to be a significant source of revenue for the retailer’s stores. The service attracts high volumes, drawing in customers who generate a significant amount of the stores’ overall customer traffic.

Notably, this traffic generates immediate financial benefits, as approximately half of these parcel customers also opt to shop in-store, generating consistent additional sales per parcel customer.

These cross-shopping figures, combined with the fees charged to carriers, enable the parcel division to generate a massive annual turnover, demonstrating a crucial role in profitability on the parcel turnover.

ICA has gained an unbeatable competitive advantage.

With the open model, ICA positions itself as a comprehensive hub for both groceries and parcels, creating a strong competitive advantage.

9 out of 10 customers want one agent service at their ICA store and do not have to go to several different agent locations. 7 out of 10 customers have ICA as their first choice for food and parcels, strengthening the brand as customer-focused and flexible.

“Partnering with Cleveron is about more than efficiency, it’s about leading the way in last-mile delivery through innovation”

Sofie Pettersson, Head of Parcel Solution – ICA Gruppen.

What exactly is a retail-driven open network?

A retail-driven open network (RDON) is a collaborative logistics model in which retailers, rather than traditional logistics companies, take the lead in building a shared delivery and pickup infrastructure.

Over the past 4 years, we’ve been working with Ingrid, a service point solution, to make the retail-driven open network possible. We solidified our partnership in 2025.

This partnership combines Cleveron’s robotics, parcel lockers and software suite with Ingrid’s to create an open, retailer-led network that makes out-of-home delivery more convenient, scalable and sustainable.

“Retail-driven open networks are redefining last-mile delivery. Automated pickup combined with seamless digital delivery empowers retailers to turn fulfilment into exceptional service and growth.”

Fredrik Fenberg, Head of Sales and Business Development at Cleveron.

How does it work?

To explain the idea easily, here’s an image illustrating what retail-driven open network entails. Instead of having separate parcel machines for each third-party courier and them having separate customer journeys, you can integrate all into one parcel solution, in this case, in Cleveron 402.

 

Automating pick-ups directly increases the revenue.

 

Some grocery retailers already have a pickup point; however, it is still manual. However, imagine this – your manual pickup can handle around 50 parcels a day; however, with an automated solution, this number can increase up to 500, freeing up your staff.

 

This is especially important to consider during peak seasons, such as the upcoming Black Friday and Christmas holidays. This way, the revenue generated by 10x capacity crushes the ROI of minor labour savings.

Let’s talk!

Adopting a retail-driven open network model is more than just a logistics upgrade; it is a strategic evolution for modern retailers.