Home delivery specialist Hermes today launched 500 myHermes ParcelShops across the UK in a movedesigned to enable its retail clients to offer their customers the most flexible and convenient
delivery solution on the market, and plans to double the network to 1,000 locations by the end ofthe year.Retailers will initially be able to offer the myHermes ParcelShops as a cost-effective meansof returning unwanted online purchases, with plans to extend the service to allow consumers tospecify their nearest location as an alternative to home delivery.
Carole Woodhead, Chief Executive at Hermes UK, said: “This launch now confirms our positionas one of the UK’s leading multi-channel service providers with an unrivalled offering and productportfolio. Over the last year we have successfully introduced a number of key enhancements to ourservice in response to changing retail requirements, all of which are designed to give our retailcustomers a competitive edge.”
The new retail locations were unveiled at a press conference in London also attended byex-Formula 1 champion Mika Häkkinen and Marc Dessing, COO of Hermes Europe. “We’re delighted to bepresent in the growing British parcels market with Hermes ParcelShops,” Dessing added. “We havethus extended our international ParcelShop presence after already operating 14,000 shops in Germanyand also starting successfully in Austria and Russia as well.”
The branded myHermes ParcelShops are located in local convenience stores such as Spa, Nisa,Premier and Co-op as well as local independents, in major urban locations that have been speciallyselected based on population density and home delivery demand. The initial network of parcel shopsis expected to be increased by a further 500 locations by the end of the year to extend thenationwide reach of the service.
Each store offers extended opening hours, typically 8 until 8, and in the first phase will beproviding a drop off service for people who want to return goods they have purchased online. Thiswill help retailers to address the difficult area of returns providing a quicker, simpler and moreefficient option to their customers and giving them an alternative to the current couriercollection option.
According to independent research carried out by Hermes last year the returns process remainsa continuing issue for online shoppers. The research showed that 16 per cent of people return atleast one item per order and, while more than 50 per cent use the Post Office to return goods, theyfind it inconvenient and slow.
The launch follows discussions with key retail customers and consumer focus groups and buildson the highly successful Parcel Shop model operated by Hermes in Germany, Austria and Russia.Leading mail order specialists Redcats is one of the first to sign up for the new service.
The introduction of myHermes ParcelShops is also good news for niche online retailers andanyone who wants to send a parcel. It can be used in conjunction with the current myhermes.co.ukservice which offers an affordable delivery solution that can be quickly ordered online with itemscollected direct from the door or as a standalone service.
Both options eliminate the need to queue at the post office but by opting to take items to amyHermes ParcelShop, rather than have a courier collect them, parcels are delivered on a 2-dayservice (rather than 3-5 day), making it a comparable service with Royal Mail (2nd class) butcheaper (over 1kg) and fully tracked, for no extra cost.
Jonathan Bennett, Head of Marcoms for myhermes.co.uk, said: “This is now a highly flexibleand convenient service for consumers and small businesses such as eBay Powersellers, AmazonMarketplace sellers and other niche retailers, who can choose to take their parcels to theParcelShop early or late and have a shorter delivery timescale or enjoy the convenience of acollection from a local courier.”
Last month, Hermes announced that the group’s UK revenues soared by 22 per cent to €303million and volumes increased by 20 per cent in 2011. The company is hoping for 15-20 per centsales growth this year and plans to extend its network from 20 branches to 25 locations.
