From Black Friday to the January sales, DPD’s unique range of services give customers more convenience and choice than ever.
With Black Friday just over a week away, the UK’s favourite parcel delivery company, DPD, has revealed its plans for handling an anticipated record number of parcels over the Christmas Peak.
The company is planning for an increase in parcel volumes of more than 20% compared to 2015, and aims to provide an unrivalled range of services for customers to ensure their parcels are delivered safely and on time. More than ever this Christmas, DPD customers will be able to take control and say exactly when and how they would like their parcels delivered.
Preparations for Peak 2016 began in January but, unlike a lot of other firms, DPD’s approach to Peak is based largely on the efficiency of its existing network infrastructure, technology and its permanent staff, rather than pop-up depots and seasonal labour.
DPD’s plan for Peak 2016:
Network capacity: In the last two years DPD has opened six huge (over 60,000 sq ft) purpose-built distribution centres, each furnished with £1.2m worth of automated sorting equipment and capable of sorting 30,000 parcels a day – double the volume of the depots they replaced. The company also has the two largest fully automated sorting hubs in Europe including the new £100m super hub in Hinckley, Leicestershire which on its own can handle 600,000 parcels a night.
Predict: DPD’s unique one-hour delivery service, Predict, will again under-pin everything that happens out on the road this Peak. Customers are given advanced notification of their exact one-hour delivery slot and access to a range of ‘in-flight options’ if they can’t be home, such as deliver to a specific neighbour. This enables recipients to manage their own delivery via their smartphone or PC, by communicating with their driver in real-time.
DPD PickUp: DPD is transforming the parcel shop experience by truly integrating it into the purchasing and delivery processes and offering customers a greatly improved customer service. This Peak, customers will be able to divert their parcels via Predict to big-name stores like Sainsbury’s, Matalan and Halfords for a delivery that’s convenient to them.
DPD Precise: DPD Precise customers can select their own, exact one-hour delivery slot on the day of their choosing. WithPrecise, customers can either accept their original delivery slot via the Predict notification, or select their preferred delivery day and their specific one hour delivery slot via DPD’s ‘in-flight’ options. Precise deliveries can be arranged for anytime in the following seven days between 11am and 5pm.
The DPD app: This year DPD has added to its range of services further with the launch of the Your DPD app which enables customers to set their own delivery preferences including the ability to request that drivers always avoid certain times of the day, such as the school run. The app uses smartphone geo-location based technology to automatically alert the DPD driver when an app user returns home, allowing the driver to offer to return with the parcel.
Seven days a week: DPD has been a seven day operation since 2014 giving customers the convenience of a Sunday delivery when they are more likely to be at home. But there are further operational benefits from seven day working during Peak as it means parcels are constantly moving through the network, which helps avoid build-ups over the busiest weekends.
Dwain McDonald, DPD’s CEO, commented; “We deliver for the UK’s biggest retailers and we have been talking to them since January to prepare for Peak. It clear that it is going to be another record breaking Christmas for online shopping in the UK, but we are more than ready. Last year we saw Black Friday becoming more of an online sales event, and that trend is likely to continue again this year. We’ve agreed our parcel volumes and we have the people and the infrastructure to deliver.
“Yes, Peak is about capacity and network efficiency – those are the things we have to get right and we do them better than anyone because we have invested in our depots and hubs, our people and our technology year after year. But more than ever this year I think we are offering more convenience and greater choice. Our customers will be able manage their own delivery and do it their own way – whether that is accepting the specific one hour delivery slot, diverting the parcel to the Sainsbury’s store where they shop after work or setting up a Precise delivery for 4:30pm next Wednesday.
“As a result, our drivers have the best data on the road – the real time responses our drivers receive from recipients mean that before they attempt a delivery, they already know who’s in or out and what they want us to do with their parcel, which saves a huge amount of time.”
