Expanding offers – Improving service

With its easy-to-use services, the parcel business has become the innovative engine of the MAIL division. Deutsche Post DHL is investing €750 million in its German parcel network over the next two years. The goal is to continue growing in a booming market. In the future, parcels are to reach customers even more quickly and delivery is to be more precise and transparent.

Deutsche Post DHL is investing in the booming parcel business.

Investing in an important goal

Who wouldn’t like a remote control to guide their parcels to precisely where they want them to go? Soon, Deutsche Post DHL will be offering just that. The service will be made up of an entire bundle of products that allow customers to precisely “control” the delivery of their parcels, whether they are day-definite, time-definite or destination-definite. This is but a tiny example of the innovative strength of the leading provider on the German parcel market. The largest example is called Parcel 2012 and it “weighs” €750 million. The concept is the company’s response to new business models in the rapidly growing e-commerce sector and to changing consumer behaviour. “Parcels will become as fast as letters,” says Jürgen Gerdes, Corporate Board Member for MAIL. “We are laying the groundwork by expanding our network and creating innovative shipping solutions.”

Intelligent solutions that make customers’ lives easier

Today, the parcel business makes up around one-fifth of revenue in the MAIL division. In 2011, DHL Parcel alone transported some three million parcels per day in Germany. There is a demand for innovative solutions that make customers’ lives easier and that goes for the entire value chain, from collecting parcels from customers to high-tech sorting and delivering. Examples of such successful solutions: Packstations, which were introduced in 2001. In Germany, there are already around 2,500 stations and more than 2.5 million registered users. Since 2005, deliverers have collected parcels from private households and since 2007 there have been “postboxes” for parcels, the so-called Paketboxes.

Online shopping is a growth driver

E-commerce, an economic sector that has seen impressive growth for years, offers an enormous opportunity for growth in the logistics sector. According to Bundesverband des Deutschen Versandhandels (the German e-commerce and distance selling trade association), the 2011 Christmas season generated €4.4 billion in revenue for businesses involved in e-commerce, 22% more than in 2010. DHL transported up to six million parcels a day during this time. That figure is normally around three million. According to the Deutsche Post DHL study Shopping 4.0, published in February 2012, one in three Germans shopped online at least three times in the past six months. The e-commerce sector is likely to be boosted further by the rising number of smart devices and online networking through social media.

(top left) There are currently around 2,500 Packstations in Germany. (right) Making things as easy as possible for our customer is the goal pursued by each and every one of our employees. (bottom left) In the future, a parcel will be just as fast as a letter.

Guaranteed quality, even for sensitive items

Books, CDs, clothing and consumer electronics are currently the main items being purchased online. The future is likely to see even more areas open up to retailers and logistics providers, not least as a result of changing demographics. For instance, a growing number of retail customers will purchase medicine and groceries online one day. By expanding the parcel network, adding new vehicles and permanently optimising delivery rounds, DHL is well prepared to offer the right solutions for these requirements as well, and one of these solutions is faster parcel transit times, something that is very important for sensitive parcels in particular. In future 95% of all parcels in Germany should arrive at their destinations on the next day, just as fast as a letter. Improved efficiency will make this possible. Parcel centres will one day be able to handle 28,000 to 50,000 parcels an hour depending on location and demand, a 150% increase from the 20,000 parcels we process each hour today.

Transparency makes it simple

Simply grow also means making things both easier and more understandable for customers. That is why Deutsche Post DHL is taking aim at transparency. In the future, a state-of-the-art IT infrastructure will allow customers to see the current status of their parcels practically in real time. As a result, individuals will also be able to decide at short notice whether their parcel should be delivered at home, at the office or at a Packstation. Sending items will also become easier for business customers. When the new concept is in place, they will be able to post a parcel later in the evening with the peace of mind that their customers will still receive the product on time. “Our customers will experience a marked improvement in our already market-leading quality and reliability,” says Jürgen Gerdes about the planned innovations.