Our story

We met at the badminton club 4Ghent, and after our weekly training sessions, over a snack and a drink, the idea emerged in 2011 to sell a small assortment of picnic tables through a webshop. We were able to rent an old, abandoned classroom in the school where my wife worked. It wasn't long before the webshop e-woodproducts.be (the predecessor of e-woodproducts.com) was born.

To our great surprise, we quickly received a number of orders. A large courier company, without mentioning names, took on the responsibility of delivering the packages. All delivered products (4/4) arrived damaged. It was at this moment that we decided to deliver the products ourselves from then on. Our first investment was a trailer measuring 302 cm in length. It had to be large enough to transport our 300cm picnic tables.

In 2012, BVBA E-Products Europe was established. The name suggests that one day we would look beyond borders. We actually doubled the size of our storage space. From one classroom, we went to 2! It was all quite cozy, playful, but also somewhat amateurish. Of course, we had no employees, and we delivered and assembled all products ourselves. Our Senne, then 9 years old, helped me assemble a 2.40m picnic table (photo 1). My wife, Veerle, was pregnant during our first improvised open house (photo 2), and the third photo shows how a number of student workers were working with us.




In 2013, we invested in the purchase of our first delivery van (photo 3), and sadly said goodbye to the school classrooms. We took the big step and rented a storage space of about 500 m2 in Wieze (Hannaerden 1A). When our first truck with picnic tables and garden benches was delivered, only a very small part of our warehouse remained filled. What a difference from before! Leen Podeveyn won our first Facebook contest and received a 1.80m picnic table as a gift (photo 1). And of course, some student workers were again on hand to help us during busy times (photo 2). As the number of orders increased significantly, we were able to hire someone. Ewout (photo 5) became our regular driver. What a guy, what spontaneous friendliness! Many customers will undoubtedly still remember him as "the" face of E-woodproducts. Helena, then 1 year old, quickly became familiar with the ins and outs of the warehouse (photo 4). Fortunately, we were allowed to use the forklift (photo 6) from our now good friend, Jan, the owner of the premises. This photo also clearly shows that the new picnic tables arrive with a green impregnated color. This color fades relatively quickly. If they are left in sunlight for 3 days, the color is almost gone.






In 2014, we received increasingly larger orders. We delivered and assembled a large number of picnic tables in Westouter (photo 2), after which we decided to sample a West-Vleteren nearby. Golden times! Customers in France (Photo 1) also started to find us. Why not, we thought? The quality of the products is excellent, and we are open to adventure... Through new contests, we also received the most bizarre photos. Did you know that you can easily mow the grass under your picnic table (photo 3)? However, we have never tried it, and would not recommend it to anyone :-)



In 2015, we were able to rent a new space. We initially set up this space as a showroom (photo 2). In July, we had a special large order for the city of Brussels. At lightning speed, we had to assemble 25 picnic tables in the heart of Brussels. We can also recommend our customer Harry Malter as a must-see park for children. Since 2015, many of our KING picnic tables and garden benches have been set up there. Fortunately, we also took the time to enjoy a BBQ with good friends (photo 1). This photo was taken at our work location. We are lucky to work in this green and peaceful environment.



In 2016, we grew significantly. We also had quite a few orders in the Netherlands, Germany, and France. To deliver all customers on time, we needed enough delivery vans. At that time, we had 6 in our own fleet. It was a huge logistical challenge to manage everything, but we succeeded! We were also able to rent a new outdoor space. The three photos below were sent in by satisfied customers.



In 2017, the showroom also had to make way... to create space for storing goods, or to assemble a garden cabinet as shown in this photo (1). We need to take the right steps every year to allow the company to grow healthily. And yes, even in 2017, we still had no office. This photo (2) shows how we worked from home with a number of colleagues in March. During the peak season, when it is warmer, we do go to our location in Wieze. We have an improvised office there where we can receive and serve customers. At one point in 2017, we had 7 people working in our office space. Those were unforgettable times. Trucks came and went (photo 3), everything had to be organized, phone calls from interested customers, handling complaints, it all comes with the territory.



2018 was the year we decided to approach things differently. In the previous years, we had built up a large fleet to deliver the high number of orders in a decent and fast manner. But we are not a transport company at all! Therefore, this year we outsourced part of our transport. We entered into numerous discussions with various transport companies and ultimately started working with 3 different firms. Each company was responsible for a specific market, namely Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and France. The photos below show a relaxed atmosphere. The first photo shows our annual BBQ moment where we celebrate our employees. Photo 2 shows a lunch break on one of our benches in the shade. And the lady in photo 3 may already be familiar to you? Dominique is a gem of a woman, responsible for our customer service and all French-speaking calls. She is a "jewel!" :-)



2019 was the year we optimized several aspects. To cope with the increasing number of orders in the peak season, we searched for an Order Management System. Since this was also linked to our inventory and our administrative side, we could process orders in a much more efficient way (read: faster!). We were also able to rent a large warehouse (600m2), giving us a total workspace of about 1500 square meters. The quality of our customer service also improved significantly. We found that 29% of all inquiries (and there are a lot...) were answered within an hour. 34% were answered between 1-8 hours, and 28% between 8-24 hours. Only 9% of all tickets were answered after 24 hours.

At the beginning of 2019, something remarkable happened. The Flemish Government (animal welfare department) asked if we would like to participate in a project to create shelters for stray cats. Based on a good design and price, this project was awarded to us. Although the deadlines were very tight, we managed to deliver 825 shelters to many Flemish municipalities by December 2019... In the first photo, you see a number of shelters ready to be loaded. In the second photo, you see Senne. Do you remember him from 2012? He is now 17 and has become much stronger. Strong enough to load a delivery van with nice garden furniture.

In photo three, you see myself, Dominique, and Mark. What a team in 2019! Since we rely on the services of Randstad Dendermonde every year, we are also invited to their annual BBQ. A moment to relax, to enjoy... and then to get back to work :-)




2020 was a very difficult year for us, largely determined by the consequences of the COVID pandemic. Traditionally, the season in our sector begins in March, and this year was no different. The first rays of sunshine brought the spring itch. It encouraged people to go outside and rediscover their gardens. At the same time, a new player entered the game... namely COVID. Due to the national lockdown, everyone was required to stay home. Almost all stores closed. Home deliveries were still allowed, and this was precisely our business. The combination of these two factors (a. the start of the season with the first rays of sunshine, and b. the lockdown) led to an unprecedented wave of purchases in our sector. By the end of April, we had already run out of stock, and our suppliers were also sold out. The pressure on manufacturers increased, but they also had production limits, and some had COVID infections among their staff. We had even early in the season brought our advertising budget down to 0 euros, intending to reduce sales, but this did not give us any breathing room either. We worked incredibly hard, but for a large number of customers, we could not fulfill their dreams. It’s actually simple to explain. As a company, we were not prepared for an unexpected mass sale. Later, we heard from our fellow garden companies that everyone was struggling with this. On one hand, there was unprecedented business success due to much higher revenues, and on the other hand, there was always that human toll. Our respect is therefore endless for all the people in our sector, for their passion and drive to arrange everything for everyone, often successfully, but sometimes not. And where do we place this in relation to the immense efforts of the healthcare sector and the many companies that were forced to close? We must be very humble. Very humble.




These photos remind us how happy we were with new deliveries. Mark was part of my "bubble" and was the only guest at my birthday party. Dominique, always with a smile, and not afraid to roll up her sleeves.

2021, ... did something special or noteworthy happen this year? Certainly! We bought an office in Moorsel. It has no less than three floors and accommodates 22 employees. Fortunately, we can manage (for now) with fewer, so we have an abundance of inspiring workspace. We chose to hire some extra workers this year, and this proved to be a good move. This way, the individual workload was not too great, and the work was also done better. Customers were helped much faster, the quality of service improved, and potential problems were anticipated much more quickly. Yes, we can say that we made great strides in all areas. We are extremely proud of our employees and are amazed by their talents.

In 2022, after two years of COVID measures, the season for E-woodproducts.be began with changes in the market. The invasion of Russia into Ukraine negatively affected the market, making it not a "normal year". Despite these challenges, the company saw an increase in sales of garden wood, teak garden benches, and garden cabinets. Midway through the season, the company also revamped the website, allowing customers to enjoy a clear structure and an efficient search engine. These adjustments contributed to a successful year for E-woodproducts.be in 2022.

2023: A Year of Integration and Innovation

The year 2023 marks an important milestone in the history of E-woodproducts. As the world continues to adapt to changing times, we have focused on improving our services. Thanks to a growing number of sales, we have made our delivery processes faster and more efficient. This was not only an internal effort; we joined forces with various partners to realize this vision. In countries like the Netherlands, France, and Germany, we collaborated with external partners to better serve our customers, while we mainly deliver ourselves in Belgium.

Another proud achievement this year was giving our customers the opportunity to leave reviews, allowing us to receive valuable feedback to further improve our services.

At the end of 2023, we took a crucial step in our evolution by integrating all our websites, including e-woodproducts.be, e-woodproducts.nl, and tablesdepiquenique.be, into one central hub: e-woodproducts.com. This integration not only reflects our growing presence in European countries such as Germany, France, and Luxembourg but also our ambition to become a leading player in the European market.

Our interior assortment is a direct response to the growing demand from our customers for such products. We have listened closely to the needs and requests of our customers and are excited to now offer them, in addition to our existing outdoor collection, an extensive range of high-quality interior products. This expansion allows us to provide our customers with an even broader range of solutions for both their indoor and outdoor spaces. Our commitment to exceeding our customers' expectations and delivering products of the very best quality remains unchanged.

2024

2024 was quite a challenging year for us, but it is indeed part of our story. After the successful integration of all our websites into e-woodproducts.com at the end of 2023, we thought we were ready for a flying start. But yes, things turned out differently than expected...

Due to the transition of our domain name to the new webshop environment, we were hit hard by Google regarding our organic search results. Overnight, we suddenly became almost unfindable online. We had no choice: we had to invest heavily in marketing to regain our visibility. Facebook ads, Google ads, you know the drill. Fortunately, our revenue remained stable, but our cost structure... Ouch!

We also experimented with an external transport company. In most cases, deliveries were good and fast, but unfortunately not always. When you deliver a lot, things can go wrong proportionally. They were particularly weak in communication - making appointments with customers was not always smooth.

Fortunately, we had a fantastic team to get through this together! The atmosphere remained excellent, and we worked hard with colleagues who really know their trade. There was laughter, there was grumbling (especially about Google!), but above all, we pulled together.

Also positive: especially the Dutch market was growing significantly, while Belgium remained stable. Our customers remained loyal, and those positive reviews gave us the energy to keep going.

2025

After the lessons learned in 2024, we decided to take transport fully back into our own hands. Own people, own vans, own planning - central management is simply ideal! Customer inquiries about deliveries can now be answered instantly without intermediaries. What a difference!

The result? Huge success! Customers are satisfied, we have more control, and communication flows much smoother. And fortunately, the weather is also cooperating this year - much better than last year. We are working hard because when the sun shines, people want garden furniture!

It feels good to have the reins back in our hands. 2025 proves once again that we perform best when we do what we are good at: delivering ourselves, having direct contact with our customers, and ensuring that everything runs perfectly.