DPD Russia has expanded its consumer delivery service for distance-selling companies afterachieving strong overall growth last year.
The company has updated its industry solution, DPD Consumer, expanding its offer with a wholerange of new services to meet the requirements of both online stores and their customers. Theservice is targeted at the fast-growing distance-selling and e-retailing sector in Russia.
At present, 70 per cent of residents of major cities use online stores three or four times amonth and this figure is steadily increasing. As the market is developing, the high qualitydelivery of goods purchased online is becoming one of the main elements of the success of onlineretailers, the parcels company explained.
Since April 23, DPD has been offering DPD Consumer to more than 3,000 Russian towns andcities, over 2,600 of them with cash-on-delivery. The main benefit for the buyer is delivery on afixed date with notice given by SMS or email on the day the order is received from the onlinestore. The recipient can change the date or choose a convenient delivery slot by getting in touchwith the DPD Call Centre. Thanks to this solution, customers of online stores can plan the date andtime they will receive their goods in advance.
The recipient is also able to verify and test their goods. If necessary the courier will takeback unsuitable goods and the cost of return will be considerably less than direct delivery. Withthe payment on delivery option, cash received from the buyer when the parcel is delivered istransferred promptly to the account of the online store.
For the convenience of online retailers, DPD in Russia offers IT system integration, an easyto use online service, MyDPD, and a range of web services to register orders, track delivery statusand calculate delivery costs. On the website www.dpd.ru, staff at the online store or theircustomers can track deliveries with an internal number given to the buyer by the online store whenan order is placed.
“We are aware that the logistics component is a key factor of success for an online store,”said Leonid Zondberg, the Commercial Director of DPD in Russia. “DPD Consumer is a product createdin accordance with the requirements of leading online retailers and companies that are justentering the distance selling market. A large team worked for a number of months in order to helponline stores increase sales and expand their presence in Russia and help offline sellers offertheir clients a new and high quality sales channel.”
Meanwhile, DPD Russia has also disclosed its 2011 results, including a 40 per cent rise inthe number of shipments which was double the market growth of about 15 – 20 per cent. The firmdelivered more than seven million parcels with a total weight exceeding 160,000 tonnes.
DPD Russia also launched its Pharma&Cosmetics Logistics solution last year. The serviceis specifically designed for temperature-sensitive products of pharmaceutical and cosmeticcompanies, and guarantees a temperature of not below 5°C throughout the entire delivery route.
Rapid expansion of the branch network continued, including 16 new branches in the North West,Urals, Central and Siberian regions, as well as the Far East and Kamchatka. By the end of lastyear, the total number of branches in Russian cities totalled 78. DPD also opened its first branchin Belarus, in the capital Minsk, last autumn, and expanded its facilities at Moscow’s Domodedovoairport to cope with a dramatic rise in imports of goods ordered from foreign online stores.
