Competitor Watch

German delivery service DHL, the parcel delivery division of Deutsche Post, wants to ‘significantly improve’ how it delivers packages in future by giving customers more accurate information on when their item will arrive.

The postal giant will send customers in Germany an approximate arrival time by email in advance – and then about 15 minutes before delivery, they will send another alert with the exact time that the parcel van will get to the destination.

That’s according to Deutsche Post DHL CEO Frank Appel who said this service was already being tested out in some areas of Germany – and would be rolled out nationwide in instalments next year.

When asked what the company was planning, Appel said: ‘We will significantly improve the forecasting accuracy for parcels. Our customers should first receive an approximate time by email for when the person delivering the package is to arrive.

‘And, for example, 15 minutes before arrival, there will be another e-mail with the exact time, which we calculate based on the position of the van recorded by GPS. We are now testing this in some regions and in the course of 2020, these “just-in-time” packages will be available nationwide.’

DHL and other carriers have been criticised in the past over the reliability of delivery, with many people complaining that companies fail to deliver parcels even when customers are at home waiting for the item.

Appel said DHL was also taking measures to make sure customers received goods as quickly as possible by not storing packages for long periods of time before delivery. He said it is ‘practically impossible’ that customers have to wait longer than necessary for goods or letters.