bpost extends same-day home delivery trials
Belgium’s bpost said today it is extending a same-day delivery service trial that allows householders to order goods from local brick-and-mortar shops before 1pm, and receive them during the early evening. The “bpost by appointment” service essentially aggregates different local merchants into a single ecommerce platform, and has been trialled by bpost in the Sint Niklaas, Turnout and Grammont areas since spring 2012.
bpost said today that the testing has seen positive results.
And, as of today, it is now providing the services in eastern parts of the Walloon Brabant area, which lies just south of Brussels.
bpost said based on the results including Walloon Branbant, it will look to determine whether there is consumer demand for this kind of same-day home delivery service.
The postal operator said consumers, merchants and their partners have been satisfied with the service, which delivers grocery items including bakery items, fruit and meat, as well as other home delivery items including laundry and equipment requiring repair
So far, consumers appear happy to be able to order items through the www.bpostsurrendezvous.be website, set a delivery time and pay by credit card on delivery.
bpost said it has delivered more than 1,000 orders to “hundreds” of customers in the test areas. On average, delivery appointments with consumers have been including orders from two different merchants. About 80% of the orders are for fresh or frozen foods, with the five most popular shops being a local supermarket, fruit and vegetable store, butcher’s/delicatessen, bakery and liquor store.
The company said the trials showed that consumers do want to have groceries delivered fresh each day.
Extended trials
The “bpost by appointment” service brings different brick-and-mortar merchants into one ecommerce platform, with bpost delivering items same-day
From today, the service will be added to 19 municipalities in the French-speaking Walloon Brabant area, in which 20 local traders will be able to test the service including bakers, butchers, gardeners, chocolate shops and wine merchants, as well as the supermarket chain Carrefour.
Consumers will be able to book two-hour delivery windows for ordered goods, either 5pm-7pm, 6pm-8pm or 7pm to 9pm. And, for the first time they will also be able to book a delivery on Saturday up to 1pm.
bpost charges EUR 39.95 per month for consumers to receive one delivery per week, but there is no charge if a consumer does not place an order in a particular week.
In Sint Niklaas, bpost is running the service through the ecommerce portal nuvonet.be, while in Turnhout the service is focused on elderly and disabled consumers in partnership with the City of Turnout, while in Grammont bpost has been delivering hot meals to customers of the catering company Compass Group Belgium, and is now in talks to extend the test.
