Sint-Niklaas is becoming the second Belgian city, after Ostend, to adopt the 'Bbox City' label, a joint project between Bpost and the municipal administration aimed at developing a dense network of parcel lockers. This initiative seeks to alleviate urban traffic and open new opportunities for local merchants.
With the rise of e-commerce leading to a significant increase in daily deliveries in Sint-Niklaas (up to 3,750 parcels during holiday periods), Bpost aims to optimize urban logistics. The 'Bbox City' label encourages the use of pick-up points, thereby reducing the mileage covered by delivery vans and cutting CO₂ emissions by up to 30% per delivery, as consumers can collect parcels on foot or by bike.
Currently, 20% of parcels delivered in Sint-Niklaas are already collected from Bbox points. The goal is to increase this proportion. The Mayor of Sint-Niklaas, Lieven Dehandschutter, emphasizes that this collaboration makes the city "not only more sustainable, but also more business-friendly," by lessening the impact of deliveries and providing an additional tool for local retailers.
Bpost plans to install new lockers, bringing the total to 33 in Sint-Niklaas. Six new installations are planned, with the first soon at the provincial domain De Ster. Twelve existing Bbox units will be upgraded with touch screens and solar panels.
For local entrepreneurs, Bbox lockers represent an opportunity to increase foot traffic and attract more customers. They can also serve as drop-off points for customer orders, offering 24/7 collection flexibility. Laurens Himpe, Chief Automated Parcel Officer at Bpost, explains that this allows merchants to "expand their services without having to change their opening hours," while meeting consumers' current expectations for flexibility.
