How PostNL Masters the Local Experience for 4,000+ Locations

Overview

PostNL is the top provider of postal and parcel services in the Netherlands. With just over 4,000 pickup/dropoff points in the Netherlands and Belgium, every weekday, around 900,000 parcels and 6.8 million letters are delivered throughout these countries.

With plans to expand the location network, PostNL’s retail locations’ team was searching for a software solution that could not only connect their customers to the nearest PostNL package machine, locker, or location within a partner location, but also improve the customer experience — a core KPI.

Now, with the Uberall platform PostNL delivers with a software solution that gives thousands of customers a seamless hybrid customer experience at all stops along the customer journey.

• Locations published on Google and Apple Maps: 3,617 NL and 443 Belgium
• +84% increase in impressions on location profiles
• +54% increase in clicks on locations

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The Challenge

PostNL had invested a significant amount of time and resources to building a sophisticated store locator on its website to connect customers to more than 4,000 locations — which were a combination of: package machines, standalone locations, lockers, and in-store retail locations.

While the locator was efficient and easy-to-use, PostNL was looking for other ways to reach their customers online and because many of their locations were essentially invisible to their users — especially for those locations that were independently operating alongside other services within the same location.

This was largely due to locations that were not yet optimised for local search. Either in those PostNL points within partner-owned locations, or synced to critical platforms, such as Google and Apple Maps — the spots where customers turn to first when they need a PostNL location near them now.  

The Solution

While visibility is good, customer engagement is even better — so you can turn your visibility into clicks, calls, directions and conversations with customers. This was the solution PostNL was seeking with Uberall. Improving this step on the customer journey was crucial to create value to their customers, starting with improving the customer experience — one of their key KPIs.

As a brand with thousands of physical locations, ensuring both online visibility and managing your local customer brand experience required automation software that could manage opening hours and add information about the services of each locations, as well as:

• Increase organic visibility
• Help customers find their locations instantly
• Manage all 4,000 locations from one platform
• Make locations show up first in ‘near me’ searches

The Uberall platform was added, connecting thousands of data points from PostNL’s navigator. Quickly, online visibility grew and users had the most up-to-date information for the locations to return or pick up parcels. Descriptions, website links, contact info and logos for profile completeness created a better customer journey.  

The Results

After the initial upload of all PostNL’s location data, they were up and running in less than two weeks.

Thanks to the power of our AutoSync technology, we push our directory listings updates quickly and often. This technology ensured PostNL saw a dramatic improvement in online visibility — right away. Fast forward and now, with the Uberall platform, PostNL is delivering more than mail and parcels.

When customers look for a “PostNL package machine” they’ll be instantly connected to the nearest location to pick up, send and return packages.

Uberall created and maintains over 3,600 locations in the Netherlands on Google and Apple Maps and more than 400 locations in Belgium.

PostNL has experienced an 84% increase in views of location profiles with more than 25 million views at its highest peak in December 2019. There’s also been a 54% increase in the amount of clicks on their profiles. This has resulted in a 76% increase in website conversion and a 58% increase in clicks on getting directions to locations over a 1.5 year period of measurement.