The increasing online trade brings with it a dilemma: Many recipients are not at home when the package comes. A deliverer is now testing a thoroughly lucrative model.
- Parcel services in Germany have more and more to do
- Hermes is successfully testing a bonus system for neighbors
- Amazon is delivering more and more parcels itself - and Swiss Post is taking consequences
Graben / Hamburg - Online shopping has changed the work of parcel services - and above all intensified. Because of the returns and because of the recipients , many of whom are not at home to receive their shipment . The Hermes parcel service reacts to this. The company wants to reward helpful neighbors in the future if they accept shipments for the actual addressees.
As part of a pilot project in several major German cities, these "parcel feet" should receive remuneration if they regularly receive consignments, as Hermes announced on Monday. Accordingly, there should be 30 cents per parcel - regardless of which delivery service delivers the parcel.
New delivery model with neighbors in Nuremberg is already a great success
According to Hermes, Hermes now wants to gain experience on whether new customer-friendly delivery options can be created. This also harbors the potential to relieve the traffic situation and cut CO2 emissions, the company said.
The target group of the "Paketfuxx" pilot project are people who are at home regularly during the day and are interested in additional income, as Hermes said. The company is already testing: In Nuremberg. According to the company, the concept is so well received that the service is now being extended to Berlin, Leipzig and Dresden, even though there are only 30 cents per package.
Parcel suppliers in competition: Online trade is booming and Amazon is putting pressure on it
Parcel recipients should be able to directly enter a "Paketfuxx" as delivery address when ordering online. Hermes believes it is possible to offer the service to other delivery companies or online retailers if the appropriate network is successfully established to become a serious alternative in the checkout process of online retailers, "explained Dennis Kollmann from Hermes.
As it can be done differently, Deutsche Post has been making a name for itself these days: it is closing its parcel center next to the Amazon logistics center in Graben, which was set up specifically for cooperation with the US retail giant. The reason: Amazon now prefers to deliver most of it itself. Verdi reacts to the step with incomprehension: "There is more than enough work in the industry," says Verdi's postal service expert in Bavaria, David Merck. "This is why the large competitors in the parcel industry are increasing their capacities." Last but not least, the stress ensures that employees of the delivery services always make mistakes. For example a parcel carrier who uses an unusual delivery method. Another delivers a package with great delay and with his apology wins the internet community for himself.