City terminates contract

Why the “digital marketplaces” have failed

Experiment failed: The marketplace containers, which should have made it easier to buy regional products, were hardly used - now Linz is pulling the ripcord.(Bild: Wenzel Markus)

What began as an innovative idea has now ended with a rather sobering outcome: just over four years ago, the aim was to revolutionize the way people shop for regional products with so-called "digital marketplaces" in Linz. Sustainable and convenient ordering via app and available around the clock at a pick-up station.

But the reality was different. The pick-up stations in Linz are finally history. In today's city senate, the termination of the contract for the containers at the Urfahran market area and in Pichling is now just a formality. "The evaluation has shown that the collection stations were never really accepted. While there were still around 150 orders in December 2021, the month with the highest turnover, there was not even one order per day in 2023," summarizes Dietmar Prammer, the designated SP city leader.

The "digital marketplace" container (above) at Südbahnhofmarkt has already been removed.(Bild: Wenzel Markus)

City planned up to 15 "marketplaces"
In 2020, the then FP city councillor Markus Hein had high hopes for the innovative idea and had even considered a pilot project in Linz. After evaluating the first two locations, the plan was to set up up to 15 such "marketplaces" at every Volkshaus - from Urfahr to Ebelsberg. The Raiffeisen-Landesbank is likely to have come to a similar conclusion as the city. The bank has already had the pick-up station on its own premises at the customer center near Südbahnhofmarkt removed.