DPD aiming to expand in Germany
German parcel delivery specialist DPD, a subsidiary of French postal service operator La Poste, is hoping to increase its share of the German market thanks to a new strategy. The company’s core business will in future include deliveries to private addresses, express deliveries within a guaranteed time and worldwide deliveries. Until now, the company has focused on national and European parcel deliveries.
Experts estimate that the overall market grew by an average of 4.4 per cent last year, while the market for deliveries to private customers grew by over 10 per cent. This trend is expected to continue over the next few years. DPD currently delivers around 35 million parcels to private customers each year and is thus well behind DHL, the express subsidiary of German postal service operator Deutsche Post, and Hermes, a subsidiary of German mail-order group Otto. Among other measures, DPD plans to expand its network of shops; the company intends to have 2,500 shops by the end of the year and 5,000 by 2010, compared with only around 500 at present. Last year, DPD increased its turnover by 7 per cent to around 1bn euros.
Original article by Ludwig-Michael Cremer
