Ordered, delivered, received! With the pandemic due to Covid-19, online sales have jumped. According to a YouGov study, 9 out of 10 French people ordered a product online in 2020. Four out of ten people used home delivery, ahead of relay point delivery (28%) and click & collect (23%) . On arrival, letterboxes submerged (and not always adapted), undelivered parcels too, and sometimes stolen parcels.
With boks, Adrien Oksman and Olivier de Rodellec, two Toulouse entrepreneurs, have decided to provide a simple response to this influx of parcels by facilitating and securing their delivery. What, also, to leave the serene spirit on vacation and not to worry about the packages which will be awaiting us on the return. 20 minutes met Olivier de Rodellec.
There are already connected mailboxes, why create a new one?
Olivier de Rodellec: Pandemic obliges, 1 billion packages were delivered to the French in 2020 against 570 million in 2019. With Adrien Oxam, we started from the observation that people were receiving more and more packages, but had less and less means of receiving them. While 80% of consumers prefer to receive their parcel at home, 30% receive… a transit advice note.
What will boksONE change?
The problem with existing mailboxes is that they can only receive 50% of packages. They also work with a PTT pass available to all of the mode. On our side, we looked for an ergonomic solution, very accessible, which is without work. boksONE is powered by a lithium battery with an autonomy of 2 years.
This box has Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity and works with one-time codes. The benefits are twofold: for the consumer first of all, with packages that are systematically delivered and secured; then for the merchant, who will gain in operational efficiency.
Didn’t this type of mailbox already exist?
Historical letterbox producers have tried to create systems that meet this need, but their boxes take up a lot of space, are horribly expensive and finally, they require work with electrical connection, WiFi or GSM. Result: the products they offer are not consistent with the constraints of the market.
Concretely, how does boksONE work?
Its user has an application that will be used to open the mailbox using a Bluetooth connection (a physical key is also provided), but above all to generate codes for delivery people. These codes are for one-time use. They can prevent an indelicate deliveryman possibly re-entering the code to leave with the previously delivered package …
For each order, the code will be entered in the additional address field at the time of online purchase, regardless of the merchant site. The code therefore appears on the delivery label affixed to the package. boksONE can receive all parcels weighing less than 30 kg. This letterbox measures 70 x 40 x 37 cm and is very resistant. It is made of 15/10 mm sheet steel and has a lock that resists tearing. It obviously incorporates a mail slot. Launched in October 2020, boksONE is expected to register 2,000 sales in one year. We find that where the French order 3.5 packages per month, our users tend to order five.
What if I don’t live in a pavilion, but in a building?
We have created boksHUB, a 250 liter (102 x 50 x 43 cm) letterbox which can be suitable for buildings up to 30 units. This is a shared bok that can hold the equivalent of 20 shoeboxes. This time, the box includes a connected scale.
What purpose?
This scale records all variations in weight. This makes it possible to track deliverers who leave with packages, or, also, a neighbor who also uses the box and also has a unique opening code: thanks to this system, we know who delivered what and when, but also who opened the mailbox, this information obviously remaining anonymous to other users.
To go further in this anti-theft approach, each user is also called upon when he picks up a package delivered in a building, to indicate in the application the number of packages remaining in the box. It helps discipline people in their ways. They obviously can not, but it builds trust in the community.
Is your goal to target individuals or communities more?
One and the other. Our sales to individuals are progressing on the Amazon marketplace, at Fnac or at the Post Office. In addition, our boksHUB receives a warm welcome from promoters and social landlords who are in a strategy of differentiation through service. For the past two years, receiving parcels has thus become a major issue. For their part, local authorities are also quite sensitive to the deployment of this type of system. 20% of road traffic in the city center is generated by last mile logistics. This also corresponds to 50% of congestion and 30% of CO2 emissions. For these communities which are projecting themselves on the city of tomorrow, one of the big issues is the decarbonisation of the last mile. The deployment of this type of system makes it possible to deliver in the first instance, to be more efficient, faster and can facilitate delivery in staggered schedules.