GLS has launched a new home pick-up service in Germany, a B2C returns option in Belgium andcontinued its express growth in Austria.
In Germany, GLS has launched a new online service called ‘Easy-Start’ for private andbusiness customers shipping small quantities. From now on, they can make their orders over theinternet. After an order has been placed, GLS picks up the parcel at the shipper’s home anddelivers it to the desired destination. The online offer is available all over Germany.
After registering at the company’s website for the new service, customers can create andprint their shipping labels easily. Additionally, Easy-Start users can profit from numerouscomfortable functions for address administration and parcel tracking. Until now, private andbusiness customers shipping small quantities could only send items through the 5,000 parcel shopsof GLS Germany.
“With Easy-Start, we are expanding our product portfolio to small shippers,” said KlausKonrad, Managing Director GLS Germany. For example, it is convenient for eBay power sellers. In thefuture, a few mouse clicks via internet are enough to ship the goods as GLS will take care ofpick-up and delivery, the company said in a statement.
Separately, GLS Belgium has introduced a new option for B2C returns management for mail-order goods. Private customers can now return their shipments via one of the 150 Belgian GLSparcel shops with the new ShopReturn Service. Although the legal conditions still restrict distancetrading in Belgium, the number of online sellers has steadily grown with 80 new web shopsestablished in 2008 every month.
To use the service, customers can stick a return label contained within the delivered packageto the return shipment. Then they can hand it over for free in a GLS parcel shop of their choice.Afterwards, GLS delivers the shipment to the mail order seller within the usual time frame of 24hours and charges only for the return delivery.
“People are getting increasingly mobile,” said Eberhard Fritze, Managing Director Europe Westat GLS. “It depends on their individual daily routine where and when it is most convenient for themto return a parcel. With the ShopReturn-Service, the recipient can decide when and at which parcelshop the return parcel is handed over.”
This way, GLS ensures the full flexibility of the recipient making the handling of the retourshipments as easy as possible. “Retour shipments should not be considered a problem by therecipient, otherwise he will probably shrink from placing further orders. We would like to preventit as far as possible with our service,” Fritze added.
Meanwhile, GLS Austria has announced that it increased its express volumes by as much as 60%in 2008 even though the overall express market volumes in the country declined due to a switch tocheaper parcel products. GLS Austria delivers Express Parcel items by 17:00 on the next day on aguaranteed basis. The optional 12:00 delivery service is proving popular, with about 35% of expressitems delivered on this basis, the company noted.
“GLS Austria managed to get away from this trend and to expand its express businessmassively,” said Klaus Schädle, Managing Director GLS Europe South. “Our customers like it. 100% ofall express parcels reach their recipients within the booked time frame. The key to our highdelivery quality is our efficient and dense network via which we handle parcels as well expressshipments,” he stressed.
