German express operator Hermes Logistik Group plans to enter the European parcels market thisautumn through a series of strategic partnerships. The company will first offer B2B services and
then expand into B2C deliveries, German newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt reported on September 8.Hermes, a subsidiary of German mail-order group Otto Versand, is currently only active outsideGermany in the UK and France through sister companies.Hermes is meanwhile growing fast in Germany with its C2C parcels service launched two years ago,and is now the largest competitor to Deutsche Post in this market segment. “We will triple ourshare of the private customer market to 15 per cent by end-2005,” managing director Hanjo Schneidertold the newspaper. This target was originally planned for 2008. “We want to increase our (C2C)market share to 20-25 per cent by 2007,” he added. Hermes has a Germany-wide network of 11,000parcel shops for collection and drop-off, mostly as a ‘shop-in-shop’ service within retail outlets.Schneider said Hermes also aimed to increase its 33 per cent share of the German B2C market to37-38 per cent by 2007.
Hermes also plans to launch a domestic mail service once the German postal market is fullyliberalised in January 2008. “We will fully enter the mail market on January 1, 2008,” Schneidersaid. “Our price will be 10-15 per cent lower than the postal tariffs.” Hermes would be able toprovide nationwide coverage through EP Europost, its joint venture with TNT, and planned to placeits own letter-boxes in front of its parcel shops. It also offers mail services through PrimeMail,a joint venture with Swiss Post International.
Schneider predicted that Hermes would increase revenues this year by 20 per cent to at least 820million euros, and achieve a “satisfactory” financial result. In the fiscal year ending February28, 2005, the company increased turnover 20 per cent to 710 million euros, and increased volumes by7.3 per cent to 192 million items.
