As of: March 17, 2024, 2:22 p.m
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A Hermes parcel machine is located in a parking lot at a shopping center in the St. Pauli district.
© Christian Charisius/dpa
The parcel service provider DHL uses machines so that customers can receive or deliver parcels around the clock.
Competitor Hermes is now doing this too - at least somewhat.
Hamburg - After market leader DHL has already installed 13,000 parcel machines nationwide, competitor Hermes now also wants to expand its presence with such pickup and drop-off options, at least on a small scale.
There are now 20 Hermes boxes in the Hamburg area and will gradually increase this number, said a company spokeswoman in the Hanseatic city.
She didn't get any more specific.
The first location went into operation in October 2022 in Ahrensburg (Schleswig-Holstein) just outside Hamburg.
Hermes does not plan to expand the ATM network to other larger cities for the time being.
The focus will continue to be on Hamburg and the surrounding area.
The Hermes Box is a machine where you can have a package sent and picked up around the clock.
It is also possible to post your own packages and send returns.
The logistics specialist sees the machines as an “open concept”, meaning they could also be used by other parcel service providers and retailers.
According to the company, they have not yet done this.
Seen this way, the regionally limited vending machine concept still falls short of its potential.
Vending machines are playing an increasingly important role in the parcel industry in order to be able to cope with the increasing volume of shipments.
Many consumers currently have their packages sent to their homes, which is laborious and expensive for logisticians.
Your transporters have to make many stops to deliver their packages.
If the recipient is not at home, valuable waiting time is lost and the parcel carrier ultimately has to take the shipment back with him - unless there is a delivery permit.
This is an expensive matter for parcel companies, especially since the CO2 footprint of such a delivery is often poor.
It would be better for logisticians if they could hand over a larger quantity of parcels in one place - for example at machines, where the recipient can later come by after a digital notification and gain access with a code.
Hermes and DPD had a pilot project a few years ago in which they set up machines at S-Bahn or U-Bahn stations and used them together.
But the project was canceled again.
Meanwhile, Hermes makes another attempt, this time alone.
“The successful pilot launch has encouraged us to continue on this path,” said the Hermes spokeswoman.
“Overall, we see our solution as a useful addition to our more than 16,500 Hermes parcel shops nationwide.” You can also have shipments sent to these parcel shops and drop them off there.
The disadvantage: At parcel shops you have to stick to opening times, but not at the machine - it is available 24 hours a day.
dpa