Deutsche Post to Add 20,000 Parcel Shops on E-Commerce Boom

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-0 ... merce-boom" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Deutsche Post AG (DPW), Europe’s largest mail service, said it will add 20,000 parcel shops in Germany through next year to deal with rising demand for deliveries from goods bought on the Internet.

“We have never transported as many parcels in our company’s entire history as we did last year, and the growth is just continuing in 2013,” Chief Executive Officer Frank Appel said in a statement today.“By expanding our network, we are laying the foundation for even more online retailing in Germany.”

Deutsche Post, based in Bonn, will open half of the 20,000 sites this year and the other half in 2014, bringing the total number to more than 50,000. The shops can be used to send parcels and return goods ordered online or by mail order.

The push is part of an investment of 750 million euros ($978 million) to expand the parcel business through 2015, as the company relies more on online shopping to help offset declining demand for traditional mail. Germans may double the share of goods they order on the Internet and by mail to 20 percent from 10 percent today within a decade, the company said, citing a forecast by industry group BVH.

The company also will expand the capacity of its Packstation sites, where customers can pick up deliveries regardless of opening hours, by 8.7 percent to 250,000 compartments this year.

Deutsche Post rose 2 percent to 19.33 euros at 11:29 a.m. in Frankfurt, valuing the company at 23.4 billion euros.

[NWpostie]

This is the way Royal mail will be heading, as communication technology continues to make inroads into our letters business. I predict may be 10 to 15 year of letters then it will be a minority of our business, we would need to try and preserve our T&C and ensure that we stay ahead of the game in the end its our jobs we are looking after.