DPD delivered one million parcels in less than one year using 1,300 branches of German clothes retailer NKD as parcel shops as part of its parcel shop network expansion.
In a strategic alliance which kicked off almost a year ago, each of the over 1,300 branches operated by NKD, one of Germany's largest clothing retailers, features a DPD ParcelShop as part of its services.
In addition to handing in parcels for shipping, NKD customers are also increasingly using DPD's ParcelShops as collection points for their parcels. Moreover, every DPD ParcelShop within a branch of NKD accepts returns – a task which is becoming increasingly important because of the boom in e-commerce.
In the course of the year, the monthly parcel volumes DPD handled in cooperation with NKD grew continuously. In March this year, the NKD branches for the first time processed more than 100,000 parcels in a single month and they are becoming increasingly important as an alternative delivery point, DPD stressed.
Michael Knaupe, Director Products & Services at DPD, said: “NKD is one of the most important strategic partners for our network of Pickup parcel shops. The high density level of well-placed NKD locations makes it really easy for our customers to integrate the shipping and collection of DPD parcels into their everyday lives."
"We regard the achievement of one million parcels processed at our parcel shops as an impressive confirmation of our successful partnership with DPD," Christian Welles, Sales Director at NKD Holdings, commented. "With every parcel, we are providing our customers with an additional service. In addition, the parcels business boosts customer footfall in the branches of NKD, which provides significant conversion potential." In future, NKD and DPD intend to exploit these possibilities in an even more targeted way with shared marketing operations.
For customers who specify a Pickup parcel shop as the delivery address, shipping has now become even more convenient: on the day of delivery, DPD notifies the recipient exactly to one minute when the parcel is estimated to arrive at the parcel shop. This enables the recipients to plan the day as they like and they no longer have to wait for the goods they order. They still have the possibility to collect their parcel later, at any time within seven calendar days. Upon delivery of the parcel, the recipients get another message. If necessary, they are reminded by e-mail to pick up their parcel.
The service upgrade regarding the delivery time prediction applies to all Pickup parcel shops, and is thus also available for all NKD branches. It is based on DPD’s Predict service for home deliveries. For every parcel shipped, DPD provides a precise time window of one hour, which is reduced to 30 minutes in the course of the delivery.
During the delivery process, consignees can track the shipment status of their parcel on an online map and can see how many stops the driver still has to make before their own parcel is delivered. They can adapt the delivery to their everyday lives through a wide range of options such as redirecting the parcel to a Pickup parcel shop, delivery to a neighbour or to a different address, for example their place of work. The day of delivery can also be postponed.
In Germany, DPD operates 76 depots and 6,000 Pickup parcel shops. It employs 8,000 staff and 9,000 delivery drivers transporting around 350 million parcels per year.
