I live in a favela, how do I receive my order?
BISPO Alvimar de Sousa
Pesquisador| Last Mile Delivery | Out of home delivery | e-commerce
According to IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), Brazil has 11,403 favelas, where about 18 million people live, in a total of 6.6 million households.
Of these eleven thousand favelas, the ten largest in number of households are located in the following states: Rio de Janeiro (RJ); Bahia (BA); S?o Paulo (SP); Maranh?o (MA); Amazonas (AM) and Distrito Federal (DF).
●?????Sol Nascente/DF: 32.081
●?????Rocinha/RJ: 30.955
●?????Rio das Pedras/RJ: 27.573
●?????Beiru, Tancredo Neves/BA: 20.210
●?????Heliópolis/SP: 18.912
●?????Pernambués/BA: 18.662
●?????Coroadinha/MA: 18.331
●?????Cidade de Deus; Alfredo Nascimento/AM: 17.721
●?????Comunidade S?o Lucas/AM: 17.666
The number of residents of Brazilian favelas exceeds the populations of Belarus (9,485,300), Serbia (7,114,393) and Luxembourg (562,958), as determined by InvestNews and Data Favela. ?
But what is a Favela??
Favelas are subnormal agglomerations that occupy, unduly and irregularly, public or private land, characterized by an irregular urban pattern, lacking essential public services and located in areas that present restrictions in their occupation. The populations of these communities live under socio-economic, sanitation and precarious housing conditions, according to the IBGE.
The existence of favelas or communities is a reality and the numbers of households and residents in inappropriate places and without urban planning demonstrate their existence and growth over the last few years. Recently, the city Sol Nascente/DF was considered the largest favela in Latin America.
Citizens who reside in these places have needs, desires, income, and consumption in retail or e-commerce, constituting 20 million active consumers. This public moves billions of reais a year. ?
Online shopping is part of the daily lives of these millions of Brazilians, but they face difficulties to receive the purchases, because the packages do not reach their homes. ?
The challenges to conventional order delivery in these favelas are numerous: precarious streets; alleys or cul-de-sacs, unsuitable for vehicular traffic; no zip code; incorrect addressing; assaults on delivery men.
There are situations in which online stores block the addressing of a certain region on their sales platform, a practice known as “CEP do Inferno”, or "Zip Code from Hell", because of the risk of robberies or cargo theft. Because of this, these consumers are excluded or marginalized from e-commerce.
To circumvent the existing difficulties in door-to-door delivery and be attuned to the journey of their customers living in favelas, some marketplaces and last-mile logistics operators invest in alternative delivery channels and/or partner with startups designed by favela residents.?
These initiatives aim to improve the shopping experience of residents and ensure the delivery of the order, avoiding claims, losses with thefts, return of the package, other delivery attempts, or abandonment of the shopping cart on their platforms, which generate costs in their operations.?
Of the solutions of Out of Home Delivery, I highlight the PUDOs (Pick-Up + Drop Off) and Lockers.
The PUDOs are physical and commercial stores that contribute to the last-mile delivery process, that is, the owners of these enterprises dedicate a small portion of their resources and efforts to collect and deliver packages to the residents of that locality, being in some cases remunerated for performing such activities. ?
Usually, they are located in neighborhoods close to the housing of their users.
I did the simulation on a shopping platform, and it is very simple to select the withdrawal point in Brasília/DF. Dozens of establishments are enabled as withdrawal points.
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Lockers are equipment used to collect and distribute parcels, located in shopping centers, malls or public transportation stations. ?
These are automated lockers or terminals, covered by technology, that allow the posting and collection of orders. ?
It is very simple to use, as they are identified by a zip code. At the time of purchase, the consumer enters this code in the address fields. The recipient will receive a QR CODE by email or SMS when the parcel is available in the terminal.?
In Locker, simply approach the QR CODE that the door will be opened for the withdrawal of the package. This procedure runs in seconds. Some carriers do not charge for usage.
In a simulation, I found two Lockers near the city of Sol Nascente/DF. They are the Lockers Ceilandia Centro Station (zip code: 72220-989) and Ceilandia Terminal (zip code: 72225-989).
In the city of Rio de Janeiro/RJ, it is also possible to find parcel withdrawal terminals. For example, near the favela of Rocinha, there is a Locker in the subway station S?o Conrado (zip code: 22610-989), see the following image.
In the county of S?o Gon?alo/RJ, there are lockers activated in three neighborhoods: Colubande (zip code: 24744-989), Mutuá (zip code: 24460-989), and Zé Garoto (zip code: 24440-989). These terminals are used by the population of the municipality for the withdrawal of their orders.?
In 2021, I was in Rio de Janeiro and talked to some users of the Locker solution. One of the users told me, "I love the Lockers of Correios." ?
Before, she directed her purchases to a building material store, which charged her 5,00 reais per package. The day I met her, she was pulling out a box at the Locker Niterói (zip code: 24020-989), which contained her work material: pans for the candy packaging. After this account, I understood the reason for her noble feeling. ?
Because it is a free, convenient and practical parcel withdrawal channel, she has adopted it as her new address. ?
It is not a one-off situation in Niterói/RJ, there are several people, with the same characteristics and difficulties throughout the Brazilian territory.?
As for partnerships, it is a movement of large retailers, together with residents' associations or startups from favelas. Residents shop online and use the "Zip Code From Hell" address normally. ?
The stores send the packages to the residents' associations or logistics startups, which rely on the knowledge of the natives of that region, resources and technology to carry out door-to-door delivery to the addresses of the residents.
Some marketplaces and a tech giant have realized that there is a business to be explored in the communities and favelas, which can contribute to the daily lives of the population. ?
A strategic partnership was signed to provide digital addresses to thousands of residents in Paraisópolis/SP. The difficulties are not only in receiving parcels; when there is no address, these citizens face other restrictions. For example, they do not receive essential services from the state, such as care in Emergency Care Units (ECUs) or hospitals, opening a bank account or enrolling their children in schools.
Faced with difficulties in receiving their orders, abusive charges, insecurity, long commute or queues in establishments, citizens and residents of communities and favelas can adopt PUDOs or Lockers as an alternative address, to pick up their orders in a convenient, practical and safe way.?
In more favorable situations, they will be able to receive their packages through small companies installed in the favelas, which deliver directly to the resident's home.?
In Brazil, we find many social and economic distortions. Alternative last-mile logistical solutions, such as those presented, bring social inclusion to the population, distance them from marginalization, and rescue their citizenship and the right to consume freely.
References:
Vargas, Anna Beatriz. Lojas virtuais versus consumidores reais: As favelas no mapa do e-commerce.