Collect&Go starts home deliveries with own delivery service in Brussels and Antwerp region

Monday, June 13, 2022

Collect&Go, Colruyt Group's online shopping service, starts home deliveries by its own staff in the Brussels and Antwerp region. This new step forms part of the Collect&Go growth plan, in which 'Drivers', the formula with private delivery drivers, is being expanded as well. Drivers was created in 2020 in the middle of the Covid crisis and now deploys 500 drivers in about ten regions. Collect&Go wants to double this presence in the coming year and is starting up Drivers in Leuven and Namur today. Turnhout, Kortrijk and Ostend will follow at the end of June. By 2023, half of the Belgian households will have access to home delivery through Collect&Go.

Spectacular growth in e-commerce: 50% more turnover

The Covid pandemic resulted in an unprecedented growth of the e-commerce food market in Belgium. In the first year, Collect&Go’s turnover rose by more than 50%. Since then, the online shopping service has only gained in popularity. Existing customers ordered more frequently and in larger volumes, and no fewer than 250,000 new customers joined in the past two years. “Today, we see that the spectacular growth that characterised the beginning of the Covid pandemic is slowing down. We do notice, however, that more and more customers have found their way to online shopping. With our new 'home delivery' service, we are taking the next big step to consolidate our position as market leader,” says Tom De Prater, Collect&Go manager.

Collect&Go launches two different ways of home deliveries. First of all by organising home deliveries with its own staff. Next to that, the Drivers offer (the Collect&Go platform where individuals collect groceries for each other) will be further expanded. ​ By combining these two services, Collect&Go can offer a faster home delivery to more customers. “We are committed to ensuring that within one year, half of Belgian households will have access to home delivery via Collect&Go,” says Tom De Prater.

Home delivery in Brussels and Antwerp region from e-distribution centre Londerzeel

Collect&Go is launching home delivery today with its own delivery drivers in the Brussels and Antwerp regions. The service will start with some 20 drivers. By 2023, Collect&Goaims at doubling that figure with a total of 50 drivers. It also intends to expand to other regions.

To have groceries delivered to their home, customers pay a €7 contribution. This is in addition to €5.95 for preparing the groceries. By taking part in promotional campaigns, customers can be exempted from paying the contribution. In return, they can count on quality, service and a wide range of 10,000 Colruyt products at the lowest online prices.“We want to offer home delivery in a sustainable and responsible way,” explains Tom De Prater.“Socially, ecologically and economically. To keep our impact on the environment limited, we deliver the groceries with CNG delivery trucks. We are also looking into electric delivery vehicles to make our fleet even more sustainable.”

All groceries delivered to homes by Collect&Go employees depart from Collect&Go's e-distribution centre in Londerzeel, which opened in September last year. On this 18,000 m² site

250 employees are today collecting 8,000 online reservations every week, which are then sent to Collect&Go collection points. In time, groceries for 1 million reservations will be delivered annually. Its central location between Brussels and Antwerp makes it the ideal base for deliveries in both growth regions.

Drivers: important role for private delivery drivers

Collect&Go had been testing the sharing economy for some time. Thanks to this experience, and because of the increasing demand of home delivery in the middle of the Covid crisis, Collect&Go believed in the 'Drivers' model, a service with private deliverers. Since the Drivers deliver from the many Collect&Go pick-up points, a rapid roll-out is possible. In a short time, Collect&Go managed to attract 500 active Drivers, which makes home delivery possible around the cities of Bruges, Ghent, Hasselt, Liège, Roeselare, Wavre, Halle and Antwerp. As of today Leuven and Namur join the list, followed by Turnhout, Kortrijk and Ostend at the end of June. Within a year, Collect&Go wants to more than double that coverage. “Through the combination of home delivery with our own delivery staff and Drivers, and our nationwide network of more than 220 pick-up points, we offer our customers the flexibility they need today,” says Tom De Prater.

Boost for employment in Belgium

As a Belgian company, Colruyt Group considers it important to invest in Belgium, certainly for e-commerce. “In this way, we create local employment. When the distribution centre in Londerzeel opened, 200 order pickers were hired, now there are already 250 colleagues that collect the customers' orders. Thanks to home delivery, we are once again creating additional employment. We will continue to expand our e-commerce capabilities over the next three years and expect to recruit an additional 50 employees annually for our distribution centre in Londerzeel,” concludes Tom De Prater.