Parcel delivery firm Parcify is coming to the Netherlands. The start-up, which
delivers parcels ordered online wherever and whenever the customer wants, is still aiming to
start deliveries in Amsterdam this year. Its first client in the Netherlands is bol.com, with whom
Parcify is currently running a pilot project with in Belgium.
A common problem in e-commerce is that consumers
are not at home when a parcel is delivered. The Belgian start-up aims to
solve the problem of the closed door by delivering parcels wherever and
whenever the end customer wishes. Via the Parcify app, the consumer specifies when
they wish to receive the parcel. The mobile app tracks the
consumer is at that moment, so that the courier can cycle to the location
.
How can the start-up do this efficiently, without
having to race all over the city? “We’re not a butler service. So we try to
predict as accurately as possible where the customer will be at that moment,” says Chief Operating Officer
Christophe van Olmen at the Logistics & Distribution trade fair. The
app tracks its customers’ locations for this purpose. “We try to
as much relevant information as possible about the customer. If a person is
morning at around 8 am, there’s a good chance they
lives there. When we receive a parcel from an online shop,
we store it at a strategic location in the city. We use
, for example, a space at a shop or a launderette.” In Antwerp,
Parcify currently operates from five such locations. The cycle courier covers
that spot. “This keeps the last mile as short as possible. This
usually varies from 200 metres to two kilometres.” The customer can
track the parcel via the app and chat with the courier in the meantime.
The company, which recently celebrated its first anniversary, is now
currently operating only in Antwerp and Brussels, but is likely to deliver its
first parcels in Amsterdam before the end of the year. The largest online retailer Parcify works with is
bol.com. Consumers who wish to have their parcel delivered via Parcify pay
5 euros for this service.
Editorial LogistiekProfs
Image: Parcify
