Collect&Go launches home delivery pilot project in Brussels periphery

Collect&Go, Colruyt Group’s online shopping service, is now home delivering groceries in the eastern region of Brussels. This is a pilot project that will run until fall in five municipalities: Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Kraainem, Wezembeek-Oppem and Sterrebeek. Collect&Go’s own employees deliver the orders using CNG delivery vans. In this pilot project, Collect&Go is mainly focussing on learning about customer expectations and assessing the feasibility of the service, in order to set up a livable business model.

Monday, May 6, 2019

Customer needs

The regular market research conducted by Collect&Go shows that some of its customers are interested in a home delivery service. “Today’s consumer is clearly looking for convenience and time savings. This need is already being met thanks to our 200 Collect&Go collection points; but by providing this additional service, we want to go one step further”, says Tom Deprater, responsible  for Collect&Go. “Collection points remain our focus, but with this pilot project, we want get in touch with our customers and learn more about their expectations. In this way, we can gain hands-on experience as to whether and how home delivery fits in with our vision on sustainable entrepreneurship." The trial runs until autumn 2019 and will be extensively evaluated afterwards.

Brussels Periphery is first

The home delivery pilot project starts in five municipalities in the east of Brussels and nearby: Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Kraainem, Wezembeek-Oppem and Sterrebeek. “We chose this region specifically because we believe there is enough consumer demand here and because of the proximity of our distribution centre in Zaventem. From our distribution centre, our own employees will be delivering groceries using CNG delivery vans”, says Tom Deprater. “It was a conscious choice on our part to make the deliveries ourselves, because we want to stand out as offering a personal and customer-friendly service, in the same way as for the collection points.

As sustainably as possible

Collect&Go employees take to the road in CNG delivery vans. “We have always said that if we were to provide a home delivery service, it would have to be in a more sustainable way than the existing alternatives. Our CNG delivery vans emit less CO and fine particles than conventional petrol and diesel vans. Moreover, we try to arrange our delivery routes in the most methodical way and load our vehicles as efficiently as possible”, says Tom Deprater. Within Colruyt Group, there are also various pilot projects with electric vehicles and hydrogen vehicles, which could provide an even greater environmental advantage in the long term.

Realistic fee

Ordering a home delivery by Collect&Go costs EUR 9.50. The standard service fee of EUR 5.50 for the picking of customer orders (just like in the collection points) remains. This last fee can be waived if there are special commercial promotions. Tom Deprater: “We’ve given the fee for home delivery a lot of thought. We believe that with this realistic fee we can create a feasible business model. The pilot project will show whether it is acceptable to customers and, at the same time, feasible for us. After all, we are shopping for the consumers and delivering it to their front door, which comes with a certain price tag.” The price of the products remains the same for home delivery. Colruyt guarantees the lowest price for each product at all times, both in the physical stores and via the online Collect&Go.

How it works?

Customers who place an order before midnight for a minimum of EUR 100 will receive their groceries the next day. Collect&Go will initially start with the Colruyt Lowest Prices product range. Deliveries are made on weekdays from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. and on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. (noon), in two-hour timeslots. Just like for the collection points, customers choose their own timeslot. Payment is made upon delivery via Bancontact or electronic luncheon vouchers.