Albert Heijn, bol.com and Budbee are going to work together to make it easier to collect and return packages. In the coming years, the three parties want to realize parcel lockers at 700 larger Albert Heijn stores where customers can collect and return their bol.com parcels – and parcels from other webshops affiliated with Budbee. With the collaboration, the three companies want to further contribute to more sustainable and flexible delivery options in the fast-growing market of online shopping.
Convenience and durability
Customers are increasingly embracing self-service and the opportunities offered by technology. For example, the use of self-scan and apps has grown enormously in recent years. Customers are increasingly looking for convenience: it has to be simple and it has to be right. That is why Albert Heijn, bol.com and Budbee are pooling their expertise and jointly introducing parcel lockers where customers can collect and return their ordered parcel when it suits them without having to queue. This gives customers more flexibility to organize their time the way they want. The parcel safes will replace the bol.com collection points that can be found in almost all Albert Heijn stores since 2013.
“Customers are increasingly experiencing the convenience of digital. We see this in the use of self-scan and the AH app in which everything comes together digitally. The introduction of parcel lockers makes it even easier for customers to collect or return a parcel. I am proud of the collaboration with bol.com and Budbee, together we create synergy and further flesh out our omnichannel strategy.”
Deliveries to Budbee's parcel lockers in the Netherlands are made with fossil-free and renewable fuels. A Budbee parcel locker also offers space for 37 to 258 parcels, so the courier can deliver tens to hundreds of parcels simultaneously with one delivery. This makes the parcel lockers both an easy and more sustainable option for consumers who shop online.
“At Budbee, we are constantly looking for new opportunities to make the e-commerce sector greener and more customer-friendly. We are therefore very proud that we are launching this in store solution with such large Dutch partners. In combination with our technology, we are making sustainable online shopping available to an even larger group of people.”
Package always fits
The first parcel safes can be found in fifteen Albert Heijn stores in the Netherlands and Belgium from this week. Over the next two years, this number will be expanded to 700 stores. The parcel safes are located in or directly outside the Albert Heijn stores and consist of safes of different sizes. That way the package always fits. Customers who choose to pick up their package at an Albert Heijn store will receive a message after ordering when the package has been delivered. The message contains a code to open the safe, according to the webshop.
“Every day, customers order many items from bol.com. We naturally want to deliver those tens of thousands of orders per day to our customers quickly, efficiently and as sustainably as possible. With this flexible, smart and scalable innovation, we have the ambition to increase the convenience and service for our customers and to make the delivery of our parcels even more sustainable.”
