German parcel carriers Hermes and DPD are stepping up their innovations with new apps for Apple Watch devices.
Hermes Germany has developed its own app for the Apple Watch providing the most demanded services including the digital parcel label, while DPD Germany made its mobile label also available for the Apple Watch via the Passbook app.
The Apple watch app of Hermes Germany can now be downloaded from the Apple AppStore free of charge. It includes a ‘parcel shop finder’ with navigation function, latest company news about services, products etc., online shipment tracking and mobile parcel labels.
In particular, the usage of the mobile parcel label has been made easier through the new app. To operate the new Apple Watch app from Hermes requires an iPhone with the installed Hermes app. The data entry such as shipping numbers and the parcel label creation can be made via smartphone.
Customers can then show the QR codes for shipping parcels and packages conveniently on their Apple Watch at over 14,000 Hermes parcel shops across Germany. The shop owner scans the code directly from the customer’s watch and then prints out the shipping label at the shop. No additional charges arise, with the favourable online shipping prices from myHermes.de also being valid in this case.
Finding a nearby parcel shop has also been made easier through the integrated navigation function based on Apple Maps. In addition, opening times and services on site are also displayed via the app as well as the outdoor recording of the respective shop.
“We want to be perceived as a leader in digital innovation in the parcels industry. With the start of the mobile parcel label at the end of 2014, we have already proved that we have the potential for it. The number of people using it has already quintupled since the introduction. With the Apple Watch, we’re taking it to the next level. Even though smartwatches are still seen as expensive luxury gadgets for a small audience in Germany, it is certain that wearables will become much more important in the coming years. We already want to and need to profit from this today,” said Thomas Horst, Managing Director Sales, Hermes Logistics Group Germany.
DPD Germany has also made its mobile parcel label available on the Apple Watch through a convenient interface with the Passbook app even though it hasn’t launched a dedicated smartwatch app as Hermes did. Customers including small and private shippers who want to use the service need to pay for their parcels via DPD’s online platform ‘DPD Web Parcel’ dpdwebpaket.de per PayPal or debit note. They will then get a mobile 2D-code as an alternative to the physical parcel label which they previously had to print out.
The mobile label can be easily integrated in apps such as Passbook (iOS) or PassWallet (Android) and can be used on the Apple Watch via Passbook as well.
For eBay shippers, the delivery process becomes even easier as a new interface will allow the sellers on eBay in the near future to order deliveries directly via eBay and create a mobile parcel label automatically based on the buyer’s data without even having to leave the eBay website. In the course of this year, DPD plans to launch interfaces to other e-commerce platforms as well.
Standard delivery with a physical parcel label is still available on request while customers using the website dpdwebpaket.de can profit from favourably-priced parcel deliveries from €3.70, no matter the parcel label chosen. The transportation price includes the Predict service.
At the request of many customers, the mobile parcel label will also be made available for return shipments this autumn making the returns process both for retailers and consumers much easier. Until now, customers had to download and print out the return labels.
“In Germany, 93% of the households have a smartphone but only 75% still have a printer,” pointed out Michael Knaupe, Director Products & Services at DPD Germany. “The digital transformation will continue and DPD wants to be at the front of it. With the mobile parcel label, DPD meets once again its own claim to connect seamlessly the physical world of mail order trade with digital channels.”
