GLS launches FlexDelivery service in Poland
Royal Mail’s European parcels business GLS has introduced its parcel notification service, FlexDelivery, to Poland. The expansion means the company now notifies recipients of incoming parcels in 10 European countries.
GLS first launched its FlexDelivery Service in Germany in September 2012, and has now rolled it out in the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia in 2013.
This year the service has been expanded to the Czech Republic and now Poland.
GLS said it is now preparing to launch the service in France, which would be the 11th country to receive it.
Rico Back, the GLS Group chief executive, said: “We have responded to the changing requirements of e-commerce as both ourselves and our customers deal with rapidly growing online shopping.”
GLS clients using the service only need to provide the recipient’s email address, or where text messaging is used, mobile phone numbers, in order to have their customers notified of approaching parcels.
When customers are notified with emails or text messages, they are then offered the option to have items redirected to an alternative address, or to a GLS Parcel Shop.
“Satisfied”
GLS said the new service should mean faster delivery, because it helps avoid failed delivery attempts.
“It’s win-win,” said Back. “Our customers are satisfied, the delivery drivers rarely find themselves in front of closed doors, and our first-time delivery rate increases.”
GLS said it is even beginning to introduce the FlexDelivery Service for cross-border parcel deliveries, so that consumers shopping internationally can benefit. Since November, the service has been available for shipments between Austria and Germany, and Belgium should join the cross-border system soon.
“We are continuously investing in IT to develop services for our customers,” said Back. “With the competition in today’s parcel industry, to a large extent success is decided on who can provide the right IT solutions.”
GLS currently has around 14,000 employees and 18,000 vehicles, shipping 380m packages in the financial year 2012/13, when the company generated a EUR 1.84bn revenue.
