TNT Post Parcels adopts handhelds in Belgium

   TNT Post Parcels, part of PostNL Parcels, has upgraded its IT ecosystem through the introduction of 230 handheld terminals in Belgium, providing customers real-time track and trace options and full visibility an ytime of the day.
   The service has a unified platform in Belgium and the Netherlands allowing the company to expands its existing Netherlands services like Checkout and MijnPakket (MyParcel) to Belgium.
   PostNL hopes this will let it tap into the Belgium online market, which the company said was worth more than €1.12 billion in sales in 2011. The online market, which grew by 24 percent last year, is expected to see continued growth in fashion, books and consumer electronics and growth in the number of Belgium-based customers ordering from Dutch stores online.
   PostNL processes 8.7 billion addressed postal items, including 106 million parcels, for delivery in the Benelux, Germany, the UK and Italy. The company is expecting e-commerce to grow in all of its service areas this year.