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The roots of CollabNet trace back to 2020, when its founding team, then still part of Omniva, successfully delivered their first international project. The Croatian Post project became the catalyst for establishing CollabNet as an independent company.
After successfully launching its pan-Baltic parcel locker network and developing its own hardware-agnostic software solution, Omniva saw an opportunity to share gained knowledge and experience with other postal operators in Europe. At the time, lockers were highly successful in the Baltics, suggesting other companies could achieve similar success by learning from Omniva’s experience.
Omniva’s team found its first customer, Croatian Post. The project scope included building their out-of-home network from ground zero, including the sale of software licenses with a custom-built backend containing all components needed to operate a locker network, finding the right hardware solution and, most importantly, building internal competency and educating the market on parcel lockers to establish them as a preferred solution for parcel delivery.
A few local players at the time were testing out parcel lockers, but local CEP companies were still skeptical and not scaling the solution. Croatian Post was becoming the first player and pioneer in the market to launch a large-scale parcel locker network.
At the time, Croatian Post and the local market had no prior experience with parcel locker technology and operating Out-of-Home networks. A significant component of the deal was consulting with the customer to help them understand the essential requirements for operating a successful parcel locker network and help them to build the knowledge in-house to eventually fully take over the solution with their internal teams
One key component that made Omniva and Smartpost successful in the Baltic market was giving customers the option to choose which locker their parcels would be delivered to. This concept can be hard to implement even today for many operators in Europe, and at the time was difficult for the customer to understand. However, based on our team’s expertise, it is a key component in driving parcels to the out-of-home network. Customer experience is best when consumers have choice, which leads to natural growth.
The tender for the network procurement was launched during the same week that borders between countries were shut down. This challenging timing forced the project team to seek alternative ways of communicating and delivering on our promised commitments within the agreed timeline.
Things that initially seem simple can often have it’s challenges. While creating a payment system from scratch appeared straightforward at first, and the technological integrations were manageable, the real challenge emerged when dealing with compliance issues. From obtaining local certifications to implementing exact receipt structures, we discovered that attention to detail in regulatory requirements was crucial for success.
Documented precise processes for Croatia Post’s teams to efficiently manage the parcel locker network.
Provided custom software license with all backend components needed for locker network operations.
Integrated Hivebox lockers into Croatia Post’s new software platform for seamless operation.
The Croatian Post project was the pivotal moment when we realized that the market needs a company that not only knows how to build software to run parcel locker and PUDO networks, but also possesses strong business knowledge about starting and running out-of-home networks.
The project demonstrated our founding team’s capabilities in technology transfer, system integration, and international business consulting by successfully translating Omniva’s proven parcel locker model into a tailored solution for another customer in a completely different market.
We’re a solution provider with deep industry expertise
Out-of-Home software solutions, backed by industry expertise.