Parcel carrier DHL eCommerce has recently started offering the possibility to receive a package at an agreed place around the house. A new development in the market that offers various advantages for receivers, shippers and carriers.
DHL did a trial in recent weeks together with the online department store Wehkamp. Wehkamp customers can choose the new delivery option on the track and trace page and let their delivery person know where the package can be placed around the house. The delivery person first rings the doorbell to deliver personally. If that does not work, the delivery person checks whether the 'agreed place' indeed meets the requirements such as dry, not visible from the street and whether the package fits in that place. Under the carport and in the garage, the favorite places during the test period appear. The test area will be expanded from mid-August, making delivery at an agreed location available to more and more households and webshops. Dhl expects to be able to offer this delivery option nationwide in September.
"The agreed place responds to a clear need: recipients already often indicate with notes on the door where they want their package when they cannot accept it personally. Delivery drivers often know the preferences per house from previous contacts. The content of each package differs. Sometimes you want to accept one package yourself and another package can easily be put back. With this option, the customer makes a tailor-made appointment with the delivery person," says Roelof Hofman, VP Operations at DHL eCommerce.
"A nice addition to the delivery options that we already offer to customers such as the choice of a specific part of the day, delivery at home or at the DHL Service Point nearby," says Frans Falize, COO of Wehkamp. "The first experiences show that our customers find the agreed place convenient. That is why we are scaling up the test area quickly so that 'agreed place' becomes a choice for customers throughout the country."
Delivery to an agreed location is possible from mid-August in specific postcode areas in all provinces. The trial with Wehkamp is now also being expanded with other webshops such as G-Star, HEMA, Just Brands (from PME Legend, Vanguard, Cast Iron), Zalando and Zooplus so that many more online shoppers can receive their package at the agreed place.
