Hermes Group passes €2bn revenue mark

Hermes Group has recorded sales of 2.08 billion euros. Its twelve individual companies grew their combined sales by 8% year-on-year in 2013. Parcel volumes grew by 10%, which led to the Anglo-German parcel carrier handling around 496 million items during last year.

Of course Hermes Group, owned by one of Germany’s biggest ecommerce giants Otto Group, grew because of its share in the German parcel market, but it was also achieved thanks to double-digit growth in sales and shipment volumes in the United Kingdom. So it may not come as a surprise Hermes Group now wants to expand it presence in European cross-border deliveries, as Post & Parcel writes.

According to Hanjo Schneider, CEO of Hermes Europe, the future of the parcel industry is partly in internationalization. “We are now strengthening our presence in smaller European countries and we are working closely with leading parcel services in the various national markets to integrate their networks into our organization.”

Statistics about Hermes Group in 2013
About 492 million mailpieces and parcels were moved in Hermes companies in Germany, the United Kingdom, Austria, Italy and Russia last year. The package business accounted for more than 477 milion of those shipments, which represents a 14.5% growth on 2012. More than two-thirds of the volume was shipped for customers outside the Otto Group (e.g. Otto, myToys, Baumarkt Direkt and Shopping24). During last year, Hermes added 700 new jobs to its work force that now counts 11,814 people.

In the United Kingdom, Hermes Group invested 30 million euros in expanding its logistics infrastructure. It has plans to have a network of 5,000 parcel shops in place by the end of this year. And the UK is not the only country it’s looking at to expand its business and presence. By the end of this year there should be about 36,000 parcel shops across Europe.

Hermes Group also invests in its international network of ocean and air freight, transporting items from more than 20 non-European countries, like the United States, Brazil and South Africa. And after opening its first online store in China, the company is also looking for more business in the Asian country through providing added-value services to merchants over there.

Parcel companies working more closely together
Hermes could introduce estimated delivery windows for its services in Germany, which makes it compete against the likes of DPD, another huge Germany parcel company. According to Schneider, working more closely together is something parcel companies might have to consider. “Given the growing service demands as well as the well-known economic and environmental challenges, parcel delivery services should examine ways to cooperate. More common transport and closer network would be in the interest of the industry, and customers would benefit from common solutions.”