Ahold Delhaize N : Albert Heijn, bol.com and Budbee introduce parcel lockers

Zaandam, Utrecht and Amsterdam, April 4, 2022- Albert Heijn, bol.com and Budbee will collaborate to make the collection and return of parcels easier. Across 700 large Albert Heijn stores, parcel lockers will be installed to allow customers to pick up and return their bol.com parcels - and parcels from other online shops connected to Budbee. With the partnership, the three brands want to further contribute to more sustainable and flexible delivery options in the fast-growing market of online shopping.

Convenience and sustainability

Customers are increasingly embracing self-service and the possibilities that technology offers for this. For example, the use of self-scan and apps has grown enormously in recent years. Customers are increasingly looking for convenience: it needs to be simple, and it needs to be right. Therefore Albert Heijn, bol.com and Budbee combine their expertise and will introduce parcel lockers where customers can pick up and return their ordered parcels at their convenience without having to stand in line. This gives customers more flexibility to organize their time as they see fit. The parcel lockers will replace the bol.com pick-up points that have been found in almost all Albert Heijn stores since 2013.

Deliveries to Budbee's parcel lockers are made in the Netherlands using fossil-free and renewable fuels. A Budbee parcel locker also accommodates 37 to 258 parcels, so the courier can deliver dozens to hundreds of parcels at a time during a single delivery. This makes the parcel lockers both a convenient and more sustainable option for consumers shopping online.

The parcel always fits

The first parcel lockers can be found in fifteen Albert Heijn stores in the Netherlands and Belgium starting this week. Over the next two years, this number will be expanded to 700 stores. The parcel lockers are located in or directly outside the Albert Heijn stores and consist of lockers of different sizes. In this way the parcel 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.

Marit van Egmond, CEO Albert Heijn: "Customers are increasingly experiencing the convenience of digitalization. We see this in the use of self-scan and the AH app, which brings everything together digitally. The introduction of parcel lockers makes it even easier for customers to pick up or return a parcel. I am proud of the cooperation with bol.com and Budbee, together we create synergy and further implement our omnichannel strategy."

Jørgen Höppener, General Manager Benelux at Budbee: "At Budbee we are continuously looking for new opportunities to make the e-commerce sector greener and more customer friendly. Therefore, we are very proud to launch this in-store solution with such great Dutch partners. In combination with our technology, we are making sustainable online shopping available to an even larger group of people."

Vincent Weijers - COO bol.com: "Every day customers order many items from bol.com. Of course, we 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 further make the delivery of our parcels sustainable."