Belgian postal operator bpost has launched a new Secure Delivery service that will help prevent parcel fraud by giving customers a code to use when receiving or collecting their parcels.
According to the annual report from the Consumer Ombudsman Service (COD), there is a rising number of suspected cases of fraud in parcel deliveries, such as parcels being intercepted at the doorstep. And research* from bpost has also shown that 75% of online shoppers in Belgium would appreciate extra security for high-value orders.
With the Secure Delivery system, the addressee is only handed a parcel upon presenting a six-digit code (or the corresponding QR code) to the postal delivery worker. The secure code is generated by bpost and communicated exclusively to the addressee of the parcel. The latter receives the code twice – by email and on the My bpost app – once when the order leaves the online retailer, and again on the day of delivery.
Those who receive the code can also pass it on to housemates or family members to enable them to accept the parcel. This can only be done at the doorstep, at the address provided when ordering. If no one is at home or the code isn’t provided, the postal delivery worker will take the parcel to a nearby collection point. The customer then has 14 days to collect it with the correct code.
E-commerce retailers can decide which categories of parcels they wish to enable the Secure Delivery feature for, to help reduce the number of parcel fraud incidents they see each year.
“In the past, our customer service regularly had to deal with damaged or lost parcels, but that’s much less common now,” said Michael Matheesen, manager at online retailer Alternate which is already using the Secure Delivery service.
“Moreover, we choose not to pass on the additional cost of Secure Delivery to the customer. So there is no extra charge for the recipient when it comes to added security. We do this because we place great importance on ensuring the proper delivery of our parcels.”
*Source: My Future bpost online community, July 2024, n = 536.