European parcels operator GLS saw only moderate growth in its core German market in the finalquarter of 2011 but is now delivering more B2C parcels across the continent, top GLS executives
told CEP-Research exclusively.The GLS Group, which is active in 42 European countries, again shipped about 30% more parcelsduring last year’s pre-Christmas period than on regular days during the year. The company did notprovide a comparison to the previous year’s pre-Christmas period. The group, with revenues of €1.75billion in the year ending March 2011, handles about 363 million parcels a year. It said last Junethat it expected to increase turnover about 5% in 2011-12.
In Germany, its largest market, GLS showed “a moderate increase” in shipping volumes during thefourth quarter 2011, Klaus Conrad, Managing Director of GLS Germany, said. In Germany alone, GLShandled on average more than a million parcels a day during the holiday period.
Looking ahead, GLS Germany expects a slight increase for the country’s CEP industry in 2012. “Overall, the volatility will increase so we will have to adjust to heavy volume fluctuations,”Conrad commented.
GLS CEO Rico Back highlighted the increasing online trade across Europe as one of the maintrends during the last year with the challenges of private delivery becoming more and moreimportant. “The B2B business is our main activity but the number of private recipients iscontinuously increasing through the growth in e-commerce. Only a year ago, every fifth parcel wasdelivered to a private address, meanwhile it is already every fourth,” he said.
To keep up with the growing B2C business, GLS is further expanding its service for “last mile”delivery to private recipients. Thereby, GLS parcel shops have a key role in many countries servingas an interface between shippers and recipients in the B2C sector. With the last mile solution, GLSis responding to the trend that more and more B2B shippers send parcels to private recipients.
Another trend is towards faster, short-term deliveries of small quantities, Back added. “Due tothe strong volume fluctuations, however, logistics operators need to react in a flexible way,” hestressed.
