Budbee: smart, fast & personal home delivery for webshops

The e-commerce market keeps growing, and new carriers keep popping up. One of them is the Swedish company Budbee, which recently launched in the Netherlands. Budbee delivers your products to your customers' homes quickly and easily. In this article, we'll tell you everything about this new carrier and its new integration with Sendcloud.

What is Budbee?

Budbee is a same-day and next-day delivery shipping option for home delivery of webshop packages within the Netherlands.

The company is already the market leader in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden.

Last year, Budbee received a €4.8 million investment from the H&M Group and Kinnevik (co-owner of Zalando), and in the third quarter, the shipping company launched in the Netherlands.

Why should you use Budbee, how does Budbee tracking work, what are the requirements for shipping packages, and how does this shipping option work through Sendcloud?

Below, we'll walk you through it so you can make the most of it!

Modern last-mile delivery with Budbee

Budbee stands out as a customer-friendly delivery service. The consumer is in charge, choosing both the delivery time and location.

That's great news if your customer has special requests. Do they want the package left at the door?

Or should the driver knock instead of ringing the bell? Your customer can easily indicate this via the tracking link or the Budbee app.

Budbee delivers in the evening, between 5:00 and 10:00 PM, when most people are home.

And it pays off: 98% of packages get delivered on the first attempt.

In the Netherlands, Budbee currently delivers Monday through Friday. In Sweden, select cities also get weekend delivery.

Shipping and receiving with Budbee

Budbee focuses on home delivery of smaller packages. The longest side of the package can't exceed 120 cm, and the package's girth plus its longest side can't exceed 300 cm.

In the Netherlands, the company now has 6 sorting centers. Budbee delivers throughout the Netherlands, except for the Wadden Islands.

The more shipping options you offer at checkout, the better the chances your customer finds one that fits.

So it's always a good idea to add multiple delivery services to your checkout!

Minute-by-minute tracking

When your customers choose Budbee for delivery of your product, they get several messages that let them track their package.

Every message includes the tracking link. Your customers can also download the Budbee app to get push notifications instead of text messages.

1. The first message reaches the customer as soon as you print the package label.

2. The second message reaches the customer when Budbee books the earliest possible delivery date. From that point until 1:00 PM on the booked delivery day, the customer can still change the delivery day and time.

3. The third message reaches the customer between 1:00 and 2:00 PM on delivery day. It shows their 1-hour delivery window for that evening. At this point, the customer can still change the delivery time or narrow the window. If they narrow the window, Budbee charges the customer an extra fee directly, since it makes the delivery route less efficient. The customer can also see how many stops the driver has left before their package arrives.

4. The customer gets one final reminder about the upcoming delivery, 7 minutes before arrival.

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Track the driver live on the map

With Budbee's tracking, your customer can follow the driver live on the map. This tells them exactly when the driver will arrive, down to the minute.

This means they don't have to wait around for a package. And just like with food delivery apps, the customer also sees a photo of the driver.

After delivery, the customer can leave a rating for the driver.

Returns through Budbee

An easy return process matters to consumers. It's a tricky pain point for most webshops, but it's crucial for customer satisfaction.

With Budbee, your customer can easily request a return via the tracking link.

By clicking 'schedule a return,' your customer indicates the item needs to go back. Budbee takes care of the return label.

Budbee picks up the package whenever the customer wants. Here too, the customer can track the driver live.

As the online retailer, you get a notification, and your product gets delivered back to you on the next pick-up.

The cost of a return pick-up is the same as a regular delivery.

Budbee's benefits at a glance

• Same-day or next-day delivery between 5:00 and 10:00 PM

• Climate-compensated delivery

• Delivery with real-time tracking on the map

• Easy returns

• Pick-up available from 20 packages per day

• Drop-off available at Budbee hubs or one of 350 drop-off points for 5 to 20 packages per day

• Fully automatic Budbee shipping label creation through Sendcloud

• Affordable extra coverage through Sendcloud Insurance

• A Merchant Success Team that's always there for you

• Customer service that actively helps your customers

What are the requirements for my Budbee shipments?

It's important to know the carrier's requirements. If you don't, you risk having to pay surcharges.

Here are Budbee's most important package requirements:

• Maximum weight: 20 kg

• Longest side: 120 cm

• Maximum size: longest side + girth = max. 300 cm

Always keep these requirements in mind and make sure you don't exceed them. Not sure about a shipment? Feel free to contact our sales team.

Budbee's shipping options

Budbee offers 3 shipping options. You choose whichever fits your needs:

• Budbee Flex

• Budbee Flex with signature

• Budbee Flex with ID check

Budbee Flex is Budbee's standard service. This shipment needs no special handling.

For Budbee Flex with signature, the customer must sign for the delivery, as the name suggests.

With Budbee Flex with ID check, the driver only hands over the package to the person whose name is on it. Not even a family member can accept it on their behalf.

Finally, you can enable an age check (18+) for delivery. This is useful for products with an age requirement, and mandatory for products like alcohol.

How does Budbee's pick-up service work?

As an online retailer, you can have Budbee pick up your packages. Scheduled pick-ups are available starting at 20 packages per day.

One-time pick-ups are available starting at 100 packages. For 5 to 20 packages per day, you can use Budbee's drop-off service.

You then drop off your packages at one of the hubs or 350 drop-off points in the Netherlands.

How does Budbee work with Sendcloud?

You can only use Budbee through Sendcloud with your own contract.

Just upload your Budbee contract to Sendcloud and use your own (pricing) agreements. Under 'My contracts', activate your current credentials and get started right away.

P.S. Curious about all the other carriers Sendcloud offers? We put together a full overview covering PostNL, DHL, DPD, Budbee, Homerr, Red Je Pakketje, and more. That way, you can decide for yourself which carriers best fit your products.