Major Dutch online retailer bol.com yesterday launched a new low-cost same-day delivery service offering shoppers the option of picking up their goods from one of 200 convenience stores across the Netherlands and also in Belgium within hours of ordering.
The new service starts in almost 200 selected Albert Heijn stores in the Netherlands, including seven pick-up points in Belgium, and will be expanded to even more locations in the future.
Orders placed before noon on weekdays can be delivered to the pick-up point no later than 5:00pm, enabling consumers to collect their goods ready for the evening. “It is handy for last minute gifts, organising a spontaneous barbecue, or for people who just really cannot wait until the next day for their favourite product,” the company explained.
Bol.com is kicking off the service with an introductory rate of € 1.99 per order to encourage customers to try out the new service.
Michel Schaeffer, Marketing Director at bol.com said: "E-commerce customers seldom use same-day delivery because they are not willing to pay the high delivery costs. In developing “Vandaag Ophalen” (“Pick up Today”) we made low cost a priority. By making it possible for customers to pick up orders at the same time as they do their grocery shopping, the service is not only affordable but also easy. It makes same-day delivery accessible and once again proves that online shopping has endless possibilities."
In its shop, bol.com indicates the delivery time for every article and whether it can also be delivered on the same day. The offer covers all articles that the company has in stock at its fulfilment centre in Waalwijk.
If the customer decides to use the new service they can then indicate the Albert Heijn store where they want the package to be delivered and bol.com sends them a message when it is ready for pickup. Most Albert Heijn stores are open until 8:00pm in Belgium or 10:00pm in the Netherlands so a package can also be picked up late in the evening.
A bol.com spokeswoman told CEP-Research: “For this service we work together with the Dutch company Same Day Express. For our ‘normal’ orders we work mostly together with PostNL.”
Launched in 1999, Bol.com is one of the leading online stores in The Netherlands, with some five million regular customers and some nine million products on offer, including books, electronic goods, household goods and consumer products. The Utrecht-based company is part of the Ahold group.
