Every day, thousands of parcels leave our warehouses on their way to their recipients. Yet many of them never arrive at their destination.
So why do so many parcels actually get lost? And where do they end up? We explain.
🚚 1. The most common causes of lost parcels
❌ Incorrect or incomplete address
This is the No. 1 reason: a typing error, a wrong street address, a missing building number... and the carrier is unable to deliver.
🏠 Absence of the consignee
If no-one is present to receive a signature delivery, the parcel may end up in a relay point... or be returned to sender.
🔁 Refused or unclaimed parcels
In some cases, the customer refuses delivery, or fails to collect the parcel from a pick-up point on time. The parcel is then considered "undelivered".
📦 Logistical loss or sorting error
A parcel may be incorrectly labelled, scanned in the wrong place or placed on the wrong truck. As a result, it gets "lost" in the logistics chain.
🔎 2. What happens to undelivered parcels?
Undelivered parcels are classified as NPAI (N'habite Pas à l'Adresse Indiquée) or NR (Non Réclamés).
After several delivery attempts or a long period of storage without response, they are :
🌱 3. A second life for these parcels... useful and ecological
At Colis NPAI, our mission is simple: to avoid waste by recovering undelivered parcels and giving them a new life.
✅ They're sealed, unopened and unsorted
✅ They can contain anything that people buy online: clothes, high-tech, cosmetics, home decor, accessories, and so on.
✅ They allow our customers to make good deals... while reducing the ecological impact of e-commerce.
💡 In a nutshell
Parcels are lost for simple reasons: address errors, absences, refusals or logistical malfunctions.
But instead of being destroyed, they can now be put back into circulation, thanks to initiatives like ours.
How about giving a parcel a second chance? 😉
