Tag: Courier/Express/Parcels

Potter advance orders top 2 million

Posted by | Jul 16, 2007 | |

More than two million people have pre-ordered copies of the seventh and last Harry Potter book to ensure they are among the first to discover the boy wizard’s fate. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is released next week, marking the final chapter in an extraordinary publishing phenomenon.

Such is the anticipation around the final book that worldwide pre-order sales have topped two million, according to Amazon.

The online retailer’s “muggle counter” stood at 2,000,516 books ordered and counting – well above the previous record of 1.5 million for the sixth installment, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

With legions of excited readers expected to be waiting by the front door for their copy, Royal Mail has revealed its plans for coping with the demand.

The company expects to deliver 600,000 editions of the blockbuster on its release date – on average, one copy for every 43 homes across the UK.

Royal Mail’s marketing director, Alex Batchelor, said: “We have been working closely with retailers for more than six months to plan our Harry Potter delivery operation with military precision.

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GLS announces positive result

Posted by | Jul 16, 2007 | |

General Logistics Systems B.V. (GLS) reported its 2006/07 results showing higher parcel volumes, sales and profits continuing the positive trend of the past years.

Revenues rose by 4.3* per cent to 1.6 billion euros, EBITA by 15.4 per cent to 179.4 million euros. Shipped parcels increased in 2006/07 by 7.7 per cent to 311 million. International shipments grew by 20 per cent – an especially strong growth rate that reflects GLS’ continued investment in, and development of, its European network.

Capital investment totaled 75 million euros in 2006/07. The larger investments included new hubs and depots in Germany, France, Denmark and Hungary. In addition, GLS made a number of acquisitions to increase its presence across Europe. In December 2006, the acquisition of ABX Belgium Distribution was completed strengthening the company’s presence in the important Benelux market. In Italy, GLS acquired three more franchise areas; thereby increasing the total number of GLS managed depots in Italy to 21.

In addition to investing in the physical network, investments and the continuing development of information technology remains an area of specific focus. GLS has replaced 12.000 scanners in the last financial year, is currently implementing new scanner technologies group-wide and is preparing an online link for its entire fleet of delivery vehicles, a measure that will accelerate shipment tracking to real-time.

In 2007/8, the group plans to increase its activities in Italy and Spain and to enter the Romanian market. The GLS group is targeting revenues of two billion euros and pre-tax profits of 200 million euros by 2009.

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TNT launches new division in UK multi-media market

Posted by | Jul 13, 2007 | |

TNT has announced the launch of a new division with the aim of taking the largest market share in the growing multi media and entertainments sector in the UK. The newly formed TNT Media & Entertainment Division already has a number of contracts, including partnerships with customers such as Universal and Pinnacle Arvato.

TNT co-ordinates daily deliveries of CDs and DVDs to more than 2000 UK retail outlets, and is expanding into providing tailored services for film, music and computer gaming distributors.

Danny Geach, the newly-appointed General Manager of TNT Media & Entertainment, said: “This is an attractive new vertical market for us with customers who distribute high volumes of items to the High Street which is an area where we can obviously excel”.

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ACMA In defense of the catalog

Posted by | Jul 13, 2007 | |

Catalog mailing costs are hitting new highs, especially for the business-to-business mailers who lack the criteria necessary for the best discounts.

Panelist C. Hamilton Davison, executive director of the American Catalog Mailers Association, explored how we got here and what we need to do to promote a favorable change.

The United States Postal Service handles 98 billion pieces of First Class Mail a year, accounting for USD 5 billion for last year; 103 billion pieces of Standard Mail accounting for USD 20 billion; .9 billion pieces of priority mail, accounting for USD 5 billion; 9 billion periodicals, accounting for USD 2 billion; 1.2 billion pieces of package services, accounting for USD 2.3 billion; and 2 billion other pieces accounting for 2.5 billion.

Overall the USPS handled 53.2 billion pieces of mail last year, accounting for USD 16.7 billion.

Standard Mail has seen a great increase and mail volume and delivery points are also increasing.

The growth of the US economy and mail volume coincides and mail is not going away, because it helps consumers thrive. It connects consumers to the market.

Most catalogers spend less than 10 percent of their time worrying about postal issues. This is ironic considering the USPS controls access to the consumer.

He talked about how catalogers are good for the USPS and for consumers.

Converting customers, for example, is good for the USPS as well because it results in multiple mail pieces.

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New CEO at DHL Express Sweden starting 2008

Posted by | Jul 13, 2007 | |

At his own request, DHL Express Sweden’s CEO, Lars Sundman, will be resigning from his post at the end of 2007. Lars Sundman is 57, and has worked with DHL management to draw up a smooth succession plan for DHL Express Sweden. Lars Sundman will remain a member of DHL Express Sweden’s Board of Directors, while continuing to work as advisor to the CEO of DHL Express Nordic.

Starting 6 January 2008, the new CEO will be Lars Jordahn, Danish by birth, who currently works at DHL in Brussels as head of Hubs & Gateways in Europe. Lars Jordahn started working at DHL in 1984 and has since held some ten positions of increasing responsibility within the company.

Lars Sundman started out working at ASG in 1977. ASG was later acquired by Deutsche Post World Net, leading eventually to the merger between DHL and Danzas in 2003. Lars Sundman has since then had a successful tenure as CEO of DHL Express Sweden.

Lars Jordahn will start out by managing two projects at DHL Express Sweden in August 2007. Alongside these responsibilities, he will undergo a five-month phasing-in period during which time he will be introduced to his work as chief executive officer by CEO Lars Sundman before ultimately taking over as CEO by the end of the year.

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