Express delivery and logistics services provider DHL recently announced it has rebranded the name of its DHL Global Mail group to DHL eCommerce as part of a move geared towards providing customers with new services and solutions for new markets as e-commerce continues its rapid expansion within supply chain and logistics.
Company officials added that this strategic shift will enable DHL to better capitalize on the market opportunity, and to offer customers greater value and flexibility when it comes to meeting their eCommerce needs. This effort will be comprised of e-fulfillment, targeted marketing, shared-use fulfillment facilities, day-definite delivery and handling international returns, in addition to the B2C shipping services for which Global Mail is already known.
And the company also added that this change is also being made for DHL to enhance its services to meet rising demand for automated e-commerce solutions for various industries, including: fashion, consumer electronics, media products, and consumer pharmaceutical products.
Lee Spratt, CEO of DHL eCommerce Americas, explained in an interview that in April 2014, Dr. Frank Appel, CEO Deutsche Post DHL (DP DHL) introduced “Strategy 2020: Focus. Connect. Grow.”
“The ‘Focus’ pillar relates to building on our achievements,” he said. “’Connect’ challenges each business unit to work harder on our internal processes to become even better for our customers, and strengthen our connectivity with DP DHL. And the most exciting for us is the ‘Grow.’ Our growth will be specifically into new e-commerce segments to achieve sustainable above-market growth as the leader in worldwide logistics. While we will continue to focus and strengthen our core, which is providing unmatched solutions for domestic and international B2C shipping, we will at the same time expand our portfolio enabling capabilities through the entire supply chain around additional services such as e-facilitation, dialogue marketing, shared use fulfillment, a day definite delivery offering, and international returns, to name a few.”
When asked how the change from DHL Global Mail to DHL eCommerce will provide new and added value to customers along the entire supply chain, Spratt said that DHL eCommerce recognizes that e-commerce is not just about shipping parcels, adding that the e-commerce industry encompasses a continuous supply chain that begins before a consumer even goes online to shop.
“It starts with helping our customers enable their website, through dialogue marketing and language translation,” he said. “When the consumer is ready to purchase, calculating the fully landed cost using DHL ICart coupled with our address hygiene solution results in a positive shopping experience. Utilizing regionalized shared use fulfillment and day-definite services will enable our customers to get their products to consumers quickly. Along the way, our customers will use our best-in-class Web Portal to track their shipments and mitigate costs. Finally, we are expanding a comprehensive line of return products to efficiently get inventory back into our customers’ hands.”
Examples of DHL eCommerce at work highlighted by Spratt, along with e-facilitation, dialogue marketing, shared use fulfillment, a day definite delivery offering, and international returns, include expanding its network by introducing new international lanes, allowing its to move parcels quicker and more efficiently, as well as enhance automation, for better tracking and visibility.
In its third quarter earning, DHL announced the Post - eCommerce - Parcel (PeP) division of the business generated revenues of EUR $1.4 billion during the quarter, or USD $1.75 billion.