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A DHL parcel delivery service: faster delivery thanks to home office
Photo: Jan Woitas / dpa
DHL recently carried 56 million parcel shipments in one week, a record.
The boom in parcel shipping is due to the combination of Christmas and Corona times.
The industry benefits from the home office: Because parcel carriers meet recipients more often in their homes.
This eliminates the time-consuming ringing of the neighbors' doorbell or a new delivery, as the German parcel service providers announced on request.
Another reason for faster delivery processes is the so-called contactless delivery: Recipients no longer have to acknowledge receipt of the parcel with a signature, and they also consent to the deposit in front of the door or elsewhere on their property much more frequently than before.
»Abstell-OK« makes parcel delivery easier
The market leader in parcels is Deutsche Post DHL, while competitors include Hermes, DPD and GLS.
From GLS it was said that working from home is "much higher" the probability of meeting the addressees.
A DPD spokesman pointed to the positive effects of the "Abstell-OK" that customers give on the Internet before parcel delivery.
When you click on the parking OK, you can inform in advance on the Internet that the parcel should be deposited in front of the front door, on the terrace or elsewhere.
The messenger rings, but then puts it down there and leaves very quickly to protect against infection.
The DPD spokesman said that this noticeably increased the delivery rate in the first attempt.
At Hermes, the delivery rate is 90 percent, which is roughly the same as in 2019. However, as the number of parcels has skyrocketed, the number of successful first-time deliveries by the Hamburg logistics company also increased.
Package plus of 20 percent expected in Christmas business
In the corona pandemic, far more people than before are ordering goods online instead of going to shops.
According to the Federal Association of Parcel and Express Logistics, the parcel volume rose by 8.9 percent in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period in the previous year.
In the Christmas business - i.e. in November and December - the association is even anticipating an increase of 20 percent.
Market leader DHL recently carried 56 million parcel shipments in one week, more than ever before.
The previous weekly high from the Christmas season 2019 was 47 million parcels.
DHL is struggling with delays
The masses of mail bring problems.
According to a report by “Business Insider”, Deutsche Post DHL was unable to deliver parcels as early as planned this year, and the company is ten percent below its target value.
The business magazine relies on an internal postal analysis.
DHL reports that in the high season it is not unusual for there to be backlogs at individual locations on a daily basis: “We have therefore advised our business and private customers in good time that delays may occur in this particular situation before Christmas . «Early dispatch is advisable.
Goal: Packing station instead of door delivery
However, it is unclear how much it helps companies economically that the recipients open the door more often or have given prior consent to filing.
The companies actually want to move away from door-to-door delivery and instead encourage customers to pick up the shipments at parcel stations or parcel shops - there, the service providers can unload their parcels in bundles and do not have to hand over each shipment individually.
A GLS spokeswoman points out that the shipment structure for the parcel carriers had changed noticeably during delivery: »They have more stops per tour and the parcels have become larger because more goods such as garden furniture and garden accessories, sports equipment or the like were ordered. “That means: the actual positive trend towards faster parcel delivery at the front door also has its downsides for companies.
Logistics expert Kai-Oliver Schocke does not believe that it is likely that customers will get used to door-to-door delivery again and will no longer want to collect shipments from parcel shops or packing stations in the long term.
As soon as the pandemic is over, the presence of parcel recipients at home will decrease, says the professor from the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences - the proportion of shipments to the home will decrease and the demand for safe pick-up locations will increase significantly.
That would be extremely positive news for the industry - but only after the pandemic.
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caw / dpa-AFX
