GLS Italy has opened a new eco depot in Milan’s historic centre and is seeing strong growth in its B2C deliveries.
The new depot is located in the very heart of Milan, close to the cathedral, and offers customers a DepotPickup service which enables them to pick up their shipments conveniently from the city centre, even on Saturdays. The Milan facility has capacity to handle around 2,000 shipments a day.
GLS uses only eco-friendly vehicles for reaching customers in the historic centre, including 12 electric cars and eight e-bicycles. This results in zero emissions in the area.
“When it comes to delivery of shipments, we always choose the most eco-friendly solution,” Klaus Schädle, managing director of GLS Italy, said. “That’s why an inner city depot emerged as an ideal solution. We can handle the small and light shipments for the city and deliver them directly in an eco-friendly way.”
GLS Italy has already been delivering shipments in the old city of Milan by bicycle since 2013. The company’s delivery drivers also cycle through the cities of Vicenza, Bergamo, Bozen and Turin to serve the customers there.
Meanwhile, the company is expanding its B2C deliveries in Italy in response to continued e-commerce growth in the country. Online retail sales in Italy increased by 17% to €13.2 billion last year, according to a study presented at the recent Netcomm Forum.
“We have also seen an enormous rise in the number of shipments to private persons. B2C shipments now comprise more than 20% of our volume,” Schädle said. “We have developed into a quality leader with a series of services and proximity to customers.”
The E-ComService, enabling recipients to fix a delivery date and time with GLS, saw a 71% rise in usage last year, for example. Similarly, use of the InfoService, comprising a pro-active delivery notification by e-mail or SMS, went up by 79% last year.
In response to the rise in mobile commerce, GLS Italy has introduced a ‘Tracking App’ enabling smartphone users to track the status of a shipment in near real-time.
