Hermes Germany has opened new parcel shops at selected underground and bus stations in Hamburg where customers can pick up private parcels, packages or luggage as well as return items.
The parcel shops, launched in cooperation with the city’s public transport operator Hochbahn, are available to passengers with immediate effect at ten locations initially bringing the number of parcel shops in Hamburg to 264 in total, out of 14,000 shops all over Germany.
All collection points are set up as a ‘shop-in-shop-system’ at local retailers, e.g. kiosks. Customers can especially benefit from the extended opening hours of the shops and short distances.
“The new shops at underground and bus stations are ideally located for many people on their way to work. They no longer have to plan detours to send or pick up a parcel. This adds to customer-friendly opening hours: instead of the standard 9-18 opening times on the weekdays, our stores are also open early in the morning, late in the evening and on the weekends which is perfect for working people,” said Thomas Horst, Hermes Germany Managing Director.
According to Horst, the pilot project confirms a current trend. “Especially in congested city centres, no one wants to drive for kilometres to the next collection point after work to end up, in the worst case, in front of a closed door. We rather need to bundle the ways to conserve resources such as environment, time and money. This is what we achieve with this cooperation.”
The service offering at the new collection points corresponds to the classic service portfolio at all Hermes parcel shops including domestic and international delivery of private parcels and packages as well as return shipments. Hermes saving kits and mobile parcel labels are accepted as well.
In addition, customers can use the shops as an alternative delivery address for their online order, provided that the retailer offers the delivery to a desired parcel shop. In this case, the product is directly shipped to the parcel shop where it is stored for pick-up for ten weekdays.
Andreas Ernst, Head of Corporate Management and System Development at Hochbahn, said: “With the parcel shop service, we make it even more comfortable and attractive for our customers to travel with us. With the creation of the first ten shops, we complement the extensive product and service range at our stations.”
Horst is considering both an extension of the pilot project to other Hamburg underground stations and expansion to other German cities given that the e-commerce boom and the resulting flood of parcels are likely to create additional challenges for many municipalities.
“Therefore, we already need to start on alternative concepts, together with politicians and economists. The inclusion of the local public transport network is obvious – not only in Hamburg, but also in the metropolitan areas of Berlin or in the Rhine-Ruhr area. We are open to discussions,” he added.
