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Have you already set your good intentions for 2021? Do you want to shop locally, eat healthier food or do more for the community and your neighbours? Discover our 5 tips here:

1.           Make time for yourself and do not wait for parcels anymore

Waiting for parcels or worrying for lost parcels is not much fun. You can make sure that couriers can deliver 24/7 your parcels and do not have to come back. With a ParcelHome couriers save time and your parcels can always arrive.

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Have you already set your good intentions for 2021? Do you want to shop locally, eat healthier food or do more for the community and your neighbours? Discover our 5 tips here:

1.           Make time for yourself and do not wait for parcels anymore

Waiting for parcels or worrying for lost parcels is not much fun. You can make sure that couriers can deliver 24/7 your parcels and do not have to come back. With a ParcelHome couriers save time and your parcels can always arrive.

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2.      Discover fruit and vegetables from local farmers

Earlier on ParcelStories you read about the Buurderij (EigenBodem in Waasland). But did you know that you can find the Buurderij all over Flanders? Here you can buy products grown or cultivated by farmers in your nieghbourhood. You can find your local farm here: boerenenburen.be

source:  www.ontdek.boerenenburen.be

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2.      Discover fruit and vegetables from local farmers

Earlier on ParcelStories you read about the Buurderij (EigenBodem in Waasland). But did you know that you can find the Buurderij all over Flanders? Here you can buy products grown or cultivated by farmers in your neighbourhood. You can find your local farm here: boerenenburen.be

 source: www.ontdek.boerenenburen.be

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3.    Buy locally

After a year such as 2020, many people want to support their local shops. From local bookstores, clothes shops to cheese shops, they can all use our help. If you don’t want to go to the stores physically you can have your local retailer deliver in your ParcelHome.

Find your local shops here:

•  Winkelhier
• Ik koop lokaal
• Koop lokaal en steun
• Ik koop Belgisch
• Belgunique

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3.    Buy locally

After a year such as 2020, many people want to support their local shops. From local bookstores, clothes shops to cheese shops, they can all use our help. If you don’t want to go to the stores physically you can have your local retailer deliver in your ParcelHome.

Find your local shops here:

•  Winkelhier
• Ik koop lokaal
• Koop lokaal en steun
• Ik koop Belgisch
• Belgunique

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4.     Share with neighbours

Can’t you keep up with eating the eggs of your chickens? Have you made too much jam? Or are you knitting and you can’t stop making scarves? Share your products with your neighbours. Let them pick up your delicacies from your ParcelHome.

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4.     Share with neighbours

Can’t you keep up with eating the eggs of your chickens? Have you made too much jam? Or are you knitting and you can’t stop making scarves? Share your products with your neighbours. Let them pick up your delicacies from your ParcelHome.

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5.      Buy more ecologically and consciously

Would you like to shop more consciously online and make the last part of your order as green as possible? That is possible with a ParcelHome. The courier can always deliver and does not have to come back when you are not at home, this means less traffic jams on the road. This is of course better for the environment.

Be ready for 2021 and buy your ParcelHome here!

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5.      Buy more ecologically and consciously

Would you like to shop more consciously online and make the last part of your order as green as possible? That is possible with a ParcelHome. The courier can always deliver and does not have to come back when you are not at home, this means less traffic jams on the road. This is of course better for the environment.

Be ready for 2021 and buy your ParcelHome here!

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A platform for local farmers, a delivery service and a smart parcel and letterbox decided to cooperate in Belgium’s Waasland. The purpose of this collaboration is to deliver local product so freshly and ecologically as possible and with a 100% delivery chance. ParcelHome talks with Bart, the owner of Eigen Bodem, and Glenn, ‘the cool guy on his bike’, from Surplace.

Eigen Bodem is a platform that sells local products in the region of Waasland in Belgium. You can find anything on the platform from apples, meat and honey to Belgian wines, cheeses and organic pasta.

Surplace delivers the orders of Eigen Bodem and other local shops and restaurants in and around Sint-Niklaas and Beveren. The couriers do so by bike, easy and ecological!

‘Local’, what does that mean for you and your company?

Bart: First of all, it means Belgian but also as close as possible. For example, local wine is Belgian wine, but local dairy is from the region. The average distance from the production place of the product to our shop is 10 km. We also look at this when collaborating with companies or people. The collaboration with Glenn is a perfect example of that. The products are produced locally, the courier delivers locally and the customers are from in and around Sint-Niklaas.

Glenn: I am from Sint-Niklaas, for me local means ‘Sint-Niklaas’. So, really close. That means that I mostly work with merchants I know personally. They like it that I take care of their deliveries as they know me and what I stand for. I can extend the relation they have with their customers. For me local thus contains a geographical part but also a communal one.

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Why should people buy more in local shops, what are the advantages?

Bart: It is healthier! Moreover, you pay a fair price for the products and to the farmer. Eigen Bodem focusses on biological products, so food and drinks without chemicals, unnecessary aromas and preservatives. In short, pure and healthy products.

Glenn: You stimulate the local economy. It is like the government is asking at the moment; do not buy at the Bol.coms and the Zalandos of this world but shop at your neighbours’ or in the local shops in your city. Often you can find the same products locally and you get a better service on top. Especially when you have a problem with a product, it is not ideal to be on the phone with a customer service for hours. When you buy locally, you can just return to the store.

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More and more people get items delivered, also local products. Surplace takes care of the deliveries of Eigen Bodem, more local and ecological isn’t possible. Both startups form a bridge between the local farmers and the consumers. What kind of items do you deliver most?

Bart: Popular products are wine, honey and fresh pasta. We mostly deliver products from farmers such as cheese or meat. But we also deliver chocomousse. These are products that people appreciate and of which they realize that they have a higher quality when they come straight from the farmer.

Glenn: We are the courier service of Eigen Bodem. Further, we deliver chocolate and delicatessen, products people want to pay more for. We also deliver more food and take away meals during the lockdowns.

Due to the lockdown a lot of people are home all the time, that is good when items need to be delivered. What are the difficulties you face?

Bart: During the lockdown deliveries aren’t a problem. After the first lockdown we had to leave parcels at front doors because people weren’t home. That’s not ideal.

Glenn: We always deliver our parcels. We don’t take them back. When people are not home, we ring at their neighbours’. Sometimes we need to ring at five doors before someone is home or someone opens the door. We lose a lot of time this way. I prefer to deliver personally but when someone isn’t home, the ParcelHome is a perfect solution.

How can ParcelHome support local companies?

Bart: It offers flexibility. You don’t have to make an appointment with the customer. You can always deliver your parcel in safe and dry space. The customer is also more at ease when they know their items are delivered safely and will be there when they get home.

Glenn: As I said before, we lose a lot of time when somebody isn’t home. ParcelHome solves this problem. We, as couriers, obtain a code to open the box. We use this code and are able to deliver the parcel. It’s fast and easy.

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That’s great to hear. It is a good that we can support entrepreneurs with the delivery of goods with our smart letterbox. Do you have any plans for the upcoming months?

Bart: The next months we are promoting a present box filled with local products, as a Christmas special. Further, we want to expand Eigen Bodem and add more local shops to the platform.

Glenn: We want to change Surplace into a lifestyle. I want more biking couriers in the streets of Sint-Niklaas and in a cooler way. It isn’t just about delivering goods but also about biking in itself. It is a way of life. It would be cool if it transforms into a real community in Sint-Niklaas, in which it is cool to be a cyclist for Surplace. And if there is a ParcelHome waiting for us every time a customer isn’t home, that would be great!

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That’s great to hear. It is a good that we can support entrepreneurs with the delivery of goods with our smart letterbox. Do you have any plans for the upcoming months?

Bart: The next months we are promoting a present box filled with local products, as a Christmas special. Further, we want to expand Eigen Bodem and add more local shops to the platform.

Glenn: We want to change Surplace into a lifestyle. I want more biking couriers in the streets of Sint-Niklaas and in a cooler way. It isn’t just about delivering goods but also about biking in itself. It is a way of life. It would be cool if it transforms into a real community in Sint-Niklaas, in which it is cool to be a cyclist for Surplace. And if there is a ParcelHome waiting for us every time a customer isn’t home, that would be great!

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Super! Thanks for the conversation. We look forward to get some Belgian wine and local cheeses delivered in the ParcelHome.

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Aron and Dave are entrepreneurs and love online shopping. Aron is the owner of his own business, Coverswim a Belgian company that makes terrace and pool enclosers. Dave is DJ (discofeestje.be), but since the coronacrisis he is helping his partner. It is busy at Coverswim. The company produced more than 1000 plexiglass screens for restaurants, doctors and shop owners.

The couple receives parcels regularly, but they are also very busy. They do not have time to fetch packages at a pickup point or to drive back to the company after hours to meet a courier. The couple has two ParcelHomes. Thanks to their ParcelHomes, Aron and Dave are now more at ease because they know their parcels will arrive safely 100% of the time. Dave tells us how the ParcelHome increases the quality of their private and professional lives.

Dave explains that both he and Aron buy a lot online and have items delivered, not only in their private lives but also professionally. When we ask Dave what he likes about the ParcelHome, he becomes enthusiastic: “It’s just so much easier.” Keys do not get lost anymore, they don’t need to be afraid anymore that packages get stolen, they have no issues anymore when they go on holiday, etc. Moreover, the smart letterbox also looks professional.

Aron manages the ParcelHome but when isn’t around he creates a temporary code for one of his employees. This person can obtain all the parcels for the company. Aron can see at all times in the myParcelHome app who opens the app and who adds or takes a parcel. It’s reassuring that you know everything is traceable, especially when you are not around.

Further, Dave adds that they trust their couriers completely. Couriers can deliver in their box at all times, also when there already are parcels in the ParcelHome. “When at the end of the day three parcels are delivered in your ParcelHome, you are happy!” Dave admits. The couriers in Temse like to use it, he explains. They can deliver 100% of the time and also for them it is easier and faster. Everyone wins!

Thank you, Dave for the fun interview. And thanks to help out Belgian entrepreneurs and doctors with your plexiglass screens. Good luck!

The past months more and more Belgians want to shop in local stores and support the entrepreneurs in their community. Moreover, UNIZO, a Belgian organisation for entrepreneurs, recently named December as ‘Winkelhiermaand’ (‘Buy here month’). With this announcement UNIZO wants to support Belgian entrepreneurs by asking Belgians to shop and eat locally.

These days it isn’t easy anymore to shop in the local shoe store around the corner or to quickly pass by the chocolate shop of your best friend. That’s why we shop online, but still local, and why we have our parcels delivered. Easy, right!? But obtaining your parcels is even more easy with a ParcelHome. With a smart parcel and letterbox in front of your house, the local shop and restaurant owners can always deliver your packages coronaproof. Find your local shops and restaurants online to be ready for December with these 5 websites:

1. Support Local Entrepreneurs: Winkelhier by UNIZO

Shop at local stores of your local entrepreneurs. On the platform of winkelhier: www.unizo.be/winkelhier, you can find off- and online shops of entrepreneurs in your neighbourhood. Further, you can find pictures and messages on this platform to support entrepreneurs on social media.

source: Unizo – Winkelhier

2. Buy and Eat Locally in West-Flanders: ‘Ik koop lokaal’

On the website ikkooplokaal.be you not only discover local shops and markets, but also restaurants. The platform also offers links to farm and regional products. Yum! You can learn on ikkooplokaal.be which restaurants and coffee shops in your neighbourhood offer take-a-way services.

Tip: This platform started in West-Flanders but nowadays this platform also exists for the 4 other Flemish provinces.

source: ikkooplokaal.be

3. Find Treasures on the Belgian Wide Web: Buy Locally and Support

Kooplokaalensteun.be brings together Belgian webshops which sell all kinds of products. They want to help Belgians to shop online, especially now. On this website you can find anything, from dog food to interior. Let’s shop!

4. #ikkoopbelgisch #Jachetbelge: Discover Belgium’s Great Designers

#ikkoopbelgisch is trending. With fans such as ex-athlete Elodie Ouedraogo and fashionguru Tiany Kiriloff the Belgian design platform has evolved into the place-to-be to buy designs from our home country. Fashion, interior, art or video games, you name it. You find all of it on ikkoopbelgisch.be

Tip: Follow #ikkoopbelgisch on Instagram for inspiration

source: Facebook @ikkoopbelgisch.jachetebelge

5. Shop Uniquely Belgian Present Boxes with a Story

The platform Belgunique.be gathers products of many Belgian creatives. Moreover, this platform also tells the stories of these creative Belgians and the products they make. In this period of the year the web shop offers present boxes exclusively filled with Belgian products. To know the story behind the product, you are at the right address at Belgunique!

source: belgunique.be

ParcelHome is proud to launch its ParcelHome 3 in black, its 2^nd colour. It’s a big step for a growing start-up. The new elegant and professional black colour suits ParcelHome’s identity perfectly as a purveyor of high-end products with cutting-edge technology. After many requests for a black smart letterbox, we had to  go for it. Gregory Mackin, ParcelHome’s CEO, confirms: “We listen to our customers and based on their feedback we enhance the product continuously. That’s how we came up with the grey colour a few years ago and why we now extend our range with black.”

Since mid-October 2020 the smart parcel and letterbox is available in black and ready to be delivered at the beginning of November. The new ParcelHome does not only have a new colour but also contains updated technology. Thanks to faster and updated Bluetooth software, the new ParcelHome will connect to your phone more smoothly. Also, the box itself will open quicker. The design of the product obtained some small changes as well, such as new hinges and topsheet hardware, to make it more consumer friendly.

ParcelHome has continued to have sustained growth throughout 2020. In fact the  team has doubled in size over the past months in order to be able to offer a higher quality customer service that fits with a premium black box. With this box ParcelHome is broadening its to offer more options.

You can order your black ParcelHome here. There is only a limited stock available. (The classic bi-tonal grey ParcelHome is still available as well, also with new software.)

3 min. read

The past months we were shopping online more than ever before. That resulted in more parcels that needed to be delivered by delivery services and their couriers. Many of them such as Bpost and PostNL were expecting an increase of goods to be delivered during the Covid-19 crisis but could not forecast the spike that happened.

In Belgium, Bpost’s expectations were exceeded the past months. Although the past years we have seen a decreasing trend in delivered letters, more and more parcels are delivered every day. Covid-19 enforced this trend. Due to the closure of many firms and companies less letters were posted, but the parcel orders spiked. Bpost delivered 78%  more packages in the second quarter of 2020 than in the same period last year. Bpost CEO, Jean-Paul Van Avermaet, says to invest in the company’s sorting centre in Antwerp and Brussels to be able to sort 100.000 parcels on top of the usual number.

Further, PostNL is opening a new depot in Mechelen, Belgium to be able to cover the expected boost in parcel orders during the Christmas season. PostNL expects to deliver 20.000 parcels from this depot every day by November. It will be the seventh depot the Dutch delivery company opened in Belgium, knowing they already upscaled its capacity by 50% in Belgium during the past months. They claim to be present in 15% more Belgian families than they were before the Covid-19 crisis.

Bpost and PostNL experienced an increase in parcel deliveries due to Covid-19. And they want to be ready for the increase in parcels they expect to deliver this autumn. Due to a new uproar of Covid-19 and the Christmas period they want to make sure that they can keep customers happy and they can deliver your parcels as fast as possible. ParcelHome wants to help the delivery services to do so; by making all deliveries successful from the first time and by giving customers the opportunity to obtain their parcels any moment of the day, also when they are not at home.