Some 450 retailers are now using UPS’ Access Points in Europe as the B2C parcel collection anddrop-off network is expanded through major markets, senior executives said.
Jim Barber, head of UPS International, told financial analysts on the Q3 conference call onFriday that the current rollout of the Access Points in the UK and Germany “is going as expected”.UPS expects to have some 2,000 – 3,000 retail points in each of the two countries by next year, hesaid. “We are pretty pleased with where we are.”
Alan Gershenhorn, UPS chief sales and marketing officer, said UPS now has some 10,000 AccessPoints in Europe in total. The acquisition of B2C specialist Kiala in 2012 brought a network ofsome 6,500 delivery points, mostly in France but also in Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands andSpain.
“There’s a big opportunity for UPS to penetrate retail markets throughout Europe with bettersolutions,” Gershenhorn commented. “It’s profitable because of the density that we can create. ManyEuropeans prefer to receive (their parcels) at Access Points.”
Some 450 retailers in Europe are now being served by this Access Points network, which is usedfor both parcel drop-offs and returns, he added. Some retailers even had about 50% of their volumesbeing received at the pick-up points, he noted.
Earlier this year, Joe Mozzali, in charge of UPS’ European B2C expansion strategy, toldCEP-Research in an interview that the ‘Business to Retail’ Access Points concept could be extendedto other European countries as well as overseas markets such as Canada, Mexico or Asian countriesin future.
Meanwhile, UPS also announced details of its Christmas 2013 holiday season planning andexpectations on Friday. The company expects to pick up over 34 million packages globally on itspeak day, December 16, and expects peak season daily volume to increase by 8% this year. Onso-called Cyber Monday (December 2) UPS pick-up volume will eclipse 32 million, an increase of 10%,while December 17 will be peak delivery day with over 29 million packages.
“We have seen year-over-year how e-commerce and the growing trend of mobile commerce continuesto shape how consumers shop,” said Alan Gershenhorn. “Our suite of solutions is uniquely positionedto help our e-commerce customers meet the changing consumer demands.”
To handle the increase in volume, UPS will hire 55,000 seasonal employees across the USA to workas drivers, helpers, package sorters, loaders or unloaders.
