Deutsche Post DHL is unconcerned about large e-retailers such as Amazon starting to provide theirown parcel-collection points and other B2C delivery-related services in markets such as the US and
the UK, or about changing pricing trends among some online retailers for returns parcel services,CEO Frank Appel said this week.Speaking following the announcement of the group’s full-year financial results on Tuesday,Appel told CEP-Research and other international media: “Amazon, first and foremost, is a bigcustomer of ours. We have co-operated with Amazon very effectively and our volumes have gone up asa result.
“Now, it is true that Amazon has started to offer ‘Packstation’ services and other B2Cservices in other countries, and I think that this is actually a compliment, that they are copyingthe services that we have set up.
“We are not active in international B2C services in the UK and the US, so this is why wedon’t see this as a relevant competition factor. It just shows that we have been very innovativewith the services that we offer.”
Asked whether he was concerned by statements from some online retailers, questioning whetherthey could afford to offer free returns parcel services, he responded: “We’re not too worried aboutthis because the quality of the service, all in all, is simply amazing and customers can pickthings at home and can return things if they don’t like them. This is a service that simply makeslife so much easier for people, so we don’t expect any significant impact if some retailers dothis.
“Ultimately, customers decide on the price they will pay. At the moment there is noindication that the general trends will be changing, and we expect to continue seeing an overallonline market increase.”
Strong parcel growth within the group’s Mail division, propelled by expanding onlineretailing “and our own innovative services – which extend from practical shopping portals to anarray of delivery options” caused parcel revenues to increase by 9 per cent to €3.5 billion in2012, driven by double-digit volume growth with business customers.
Increasing B2C shipments due to the continuing expansion of online retail also drove a lot ofthe market-share growth enjoyed by the group’s DHL Express division last year, alongside having astrong presence in some of the most rapidly growing markets and specific investments in capacityand infrastructure, for example in Asia. But Appel said the success at DHL Express, and across thewhole group last year, had a lot to do with the company’s focus over the past three years, inparticular, on customer and staff satisfaction.
“It is now becoming apparent that this focus on employees and customers is really bearingfruit, and this is reflected in our business success,” Appel said. “We are continuously ahead ofour competitors and that is not only because we are cutting costs but also because we have improvedour service quality big-time, with the help of our highly committed employees.”
He claimed this, along with the associated training provided to around 25,000 employees inthe company’s ‘First Choice’ programme, had also helped it to become a “process leader”, which inturn had helped to improve margins.
“This gives us a major competitive edge because none of our competitors have done the samething,” he claimed. “Whenever my colleagues on the board talk to their managers, it is all aboutcustomer satisfaction, customer interfaces, and employee satisfaction, and how we can use these toimprove their overall financial performance.
“We said some time ago that we don’t only use financial goals as a basis, we also use teamand customer satisfaction, and that is much harder to copy by other companies. Cutting costs issomething that every company can do, but we have trained 25,000 employees in ‘First Choice’ andthis has really helped us generate new growth and to cut costs, wherever that is possible.”
