The Corona pandemic has given parcel service providers a strong growth spurt. They are benefiting directly from the boom in online retail.
People ordered many more shipments online in 2020 and 2021, either because brick-and-mortar stores were temporarily closed during the lockdown or because they avoided driving into the city for fear of infection - and are still avoiding it because of the ongoing pandemic.
Even before Corona, the industry had rushed from record to record: According to the Federal Association of Parcel and Express Logistics, the courier, express and parcel service industry in Germany delivered almost 2019 billion shipments in 3,65.
In 2020, there were already over four billion parcels – and by 2025, experts are already expecting a volume of almost 5,7 billion parcels in this country alone.
Increasing digitalization is an opportunity for both parcel delivery companies and their customers to make shipping as fast and convenient as possible, especially in view of the sharply increasing volume.
Parcel shipping – digitization makes sending easier
With the provider Hermes, for example, users can send their packages without using a printer or cash. More information is available at myhermes.de.
And this is how it works in just a few steps:
1. If you want to send a parcel but do not have a parcel label or printer to hand, you can use the “Mobile Parcel Label” and pay directly online if you wish – or as usual in cash when you drop it off at the parcel shop.
This parcel label can be created via the app or the provider’s website.
2. The sender can use the shipping cost calculator to find out the package class and the price for the shipment.
3. The “mobile parcel label” is completely digital. After booking, the sender receives a QR code in the app or by email, which they simply have to show when dropping off the parcel at the parcel shop.
The shop operator scans the QR code directly from the smartphone or tablet and prints out the parcel label for the sender.
Parcel shipping – digitization makes sending easier
4. The sender can check the shipping status of his package at any time via shipment tracking on the website or app.
App users can also receive delivery notifications via push notification so that they always know when the package will reach the recipient.
5. Liability and shipment tracking are included for the sender, as is CO2-neutral shipping through compensation.
