Germany’s second largest online retailer, Otto.de, part of the Hermes parent group, has introduced an exact delivery time slot of 2-4 hours for all articles ordered via its website and delivered via Hermes and also launched an online home furnishings store YourHome.de.
Until now, the e-commerce giant only informed its customers during the order process about the expected delivery date with a message saying something like “product available – with you in 2-3 working days”. Now, customers ordering with Otto get an e-mail on the day of delivery, as soon as the parcel has been dispatched, with an approximate delivery time slot, e.g. “Delivery expected on Monday, 23 November 2015, between 10 am and 1 pm.”
In addition, Otto now also suggests a delivery date with up to three delivery time slots per day for bulky goods (furniture, refrigerators, stoves, washing machines) that are on stock and can be delivered immediately.
In case of delivery delays, recipients are kept up to date and can check the current delivery status any time in their personal account. They can also inquire about the expected delivery time by calling Otto’s service centre.
The accuracy of the predicted delivery currently exceeds 90% and will be further increased in the coming weeks, Otto said. The service is currently available for about a third of the e-retailer’s customers and will expand Germany-wide in 2016.
Apart from its regular online shop and various other e-commerce subsidiaries, Otto has launched a new special website www.yourhome.de offering all kinds of products for homes including furniture, kitchen tools and equipment, accessories and home textiles. The goods are delivered by Hermes in 2-3 working days from Monday to Saturday, including bulky goods with two-man handling.
The delivery prices remain the same as for orders via Otto’s main online shop www.otto.de. For standard delivery taking 2-3 days, customers pay €5.95 per parcel and €29.95 for the delivery of bulky goods. They can also opt for express delivery within 24 hours paying €15.90 (additional charge of €9.95) per parcel and €49.90 (additional charge of €19.95) for the delivery of heavy items.
The articles in stock that can be delivered within 24 hours are marked accordingly. Orders made from Monday to Saturday until 1 pm are delivered by Hermes on the next working day. However, the orders that are placed from Saturdays from 1 pm until Mondays 1 pm will be delivered on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Otto Group e-commerce subsidiary Heine which sells fashion, shoes, articles for home and features numerous brands is passing through a ‘strategic re-orientation’. As part of this restructuring, 90 jobs will be cut by mid-2016 in response to the competitive situation on the German market, Heine’s spokeswoman told the e-commerce journal Internet World Business. Heine’s further strategic measures include stronger focus on its profitable core businesses and own brands. In addition, the retailer plans further expansion of its e-commerce business and the realignment of print marketing besides its “online strategy”.
In the first six months of 2015, Otto generated from its niche shops net revenues of around €50 million. This is not so much compared to its total revenues of €2.3 billion for the last financial year 2014/2015 that ended in February. For the calendar year 2014, however, all of its sub shops generated net revenues of €70 million, which are expected to increase considerably during the current calendar year, according to the report.
