Home delivery of online groceries rolled out on a larger scale
Tuesday 7 October 2014From today, all inhabitants of Brussels and Walloon Brabant who shop for groceries online can have them delivered to their home at the same time by bpost. On the bpost platform "www.combo.be" shoppers can place their orders with shops that participate in the service and choose when bpost delivers them. The service has been launched after "bpost by appointment" project pilots showed that bpost was able to provide it seamlessly.
The service will be extended to Halle-Vilvoorde at the end of October.
bpost has been piloting "bpost by appointment" since 2012. Customers in the two pilot areas (Sint-Niklaas and the eastern part of Walloon Brabant) can make an appointment to have their orders with local merchants, department stores or online retailers delivered to their home.
These pilots have shown that bpost has the requisite knowhow, people and logistical structures to offer the service on a commercial basis and on a larger scale.
With this in mind, bpost is set to launch "www.combo.be", an online shopping platform, where customers can access information about participating retailers and place orders from the online shop of these merchants. Fresh and frozen products are also available.
When ordering, the customer selects the date of delivery by bpost, which consolidates all orders into a single delivery. These are scheduled on weekdays between 6 pm and 8 pm (9 pm in rural areas).
As in the pilot, the price is €9.95 per consolidated delivery (up to fifteen boxes or 150kg). Customers can pay for goods and delivery by card at the time of delivery or in the online shops of the participating merchants.
Next-evening delivery is available for all orders placed by midnight. The service will be available to all inhabitants of the Brussels-Capital Region and Walloon Brabant from today. Inhabitants of Halle-Vilvoorde will be able to use the service from the end of October. By that time, the home delivery service will be available to some 900,000 households. A service rollout to other parts of the country can take place in phases, based on merchant interest and expected demand.
The following shops have already signed up to "combo.be": Cora, Carrefour (in Walloon Brabant), Huis Vanassche, La Boucherie, La Wetternoise, Viskraam (Étal de la Mer), Reason2be, Foubert, Jack O' Shea, efarmz, Aquavital and Halles aux vins. New merchants will be added in due course.
The existing clients in Walloon Brabant can make further use of the renewed service. The pilot in the Sint-Niklaas region will end in the next few weeks.
Koen Van Gerven, CEO of bpost, says: "combo.be" is a great step forward for bpost. Every weekday, bpost visits every letterbox and front door in the country. This extensive network enables us to offer our customers new services, with which bpost wishes to assure its future growth."
For more information:
Piet Van Speybroeck
M. +32 477 68 47 12 | T. +32 2 276 21 85
Fred Lens
M. +32 495 47 11 52 | T. +32 2 276 22 05
Investors
Paul Vanwambeke T. +32 2 276 2822
www.bpost.be/ir - [email protected]