GLS Germany launches flexible parcel delivery service
Parcel delivery firm GLS Germany is now offering consumers a new service to improve their choice of delivery options and ultimately customer satisfaction levels. The new FlexDelivery-Service is particularly designed to cater for Internet shoppers who cannot be at home to receive their purchases.
It requires the sender to provide the email address of a parcel recipient, but then the recipient receives an email prior to delivery outlining when the parcel is expected to be delivered.
The recipient can then manage the parcel delivery via the GLS website, choosing a delivery date within nine days of the initial expected delivery day, and decide on where to receive the parcel – at any address in Germany, a GLS depot, or a PaketShop.
“People are increasingly mobile – and the logistics industry must adjust,” said Klaus Conrad, Managing Director of GLS Germany. “We are meeting last mile challenges with the most comprehensive approach in the German market.”
For mailers, there are no additional costs for the service, the options are an integral part of the national product package Business-Parcel.
GLS said there was no cumbersome registration process required for the service.
“If the receiver knows the time frame in which their packet arrives, they can significantly better judge whether someone can take the parcel personally,” said Conrad, who said that GLS can specify a delivery to within a three-hour window. “GLS is known for its lead in the packet delivery times. By avoiding unsuccessful delivery attempts private recipients receive their packets faster than ever before.”
In future, GLS said parcel recipients will be able to use the FlexDelivery service via a smartphone app. They will also be able to store preferred delivery options permanently within the GLS website.
“The new service allows online stores a reliable and flexible delivery. At the same time, we support the driver as unsuccessful delivery attempts can be avoided,” said Conrad. “The private recipients benefit because they receive their packages quickly and easily.”
Amsterdam-based GLS, the international parcel subsidiary of Royal Mail, delivers parcels to 212,000 customers in Europe and also offers express and logistics services. With affiliates and partners it covers 42 European countries with 37 central transhipment points, 660 depots, 13,400 employees and 16,510 vehicles.
In fiscal year 2011/12 GLS transported 375 million packages and achieved a turnover of 1.81 billion euros.
