Tag Archives: parcels

News

Hermes Appoints New Director of Depots as Parcel Volumes Remain High

Hermes UK, one of the leading consumer delivery companies, has appointed a supply chain professional with a strong track record of delivering results and change to the new role of Director of Depots. John Clark has joined the senior team with a remit to support the continuing growth of the business. whilst ensuring that high service standards are maintained as Hermes continues to deliver more than 640m parcels this year.

John joins from the Culina Group where he was Operational Excellence and Procurement Director and has previously held senior roles at Argos, Bibby, DHL and the NHS Supply Chain. In his new role he will report directly into Carl Lyon, COO and be responsible for all depot operations.

Carl Lyon, COO at Hermes UK, said`: “Our ambitions for growth and service levels are both exciting and challenging, so it’s vital that we continue to build our senior team with the right skills and expertise. John’s experience of delivering operational excellence and transformation within major UK organisations makes him a great addition our team.”

John Clark, Director of Depots at Hermes UK, said: “Hermes is leading the way in the sector through its innovation and commitment to exceeding the expectations of its retail clients and their customers at this exceptionally busy time. I’m excited to be joining a company with a great proposition for customers that is well positioned to continue to grow in a vibrant market sector.”

Logistics, News

Hermes launches ‘What’s in the Box’ to Further Improve Returns Service

Hermes UK, the leading consumer delivery company, has launched an innovative new service designed to further improve the ‘returns experience’ for its retail customers and their consumers. It follows a successful trial by fashion retailer, Joe Browns.

The ‘What’s inside the box?” service allows consumers to inform the retailer exactly which items they are returning in advance. As a result, the retailer benefits from knowing which items are being sent back, allowing them to update SKUs, manage warehouse stock levels and acquire accurate and up to date customers data. There is also the option for retailers to offer an immediate or expedited refund. Consumers it also helps to ensure there is no confusion.

The ‘What’s in the box’ functionality can be integrated into a retailer’s own website or app or through the Hermes website.

Chris Ashworth, CIO at Hermes UK, said: “This is another great addition to our already industry leading returns proposition. It forms part of our ongoing commitment to developing and delivering market leading solutions that improve the customer journey whilst adding value for our retail clients.”

Darren Abbott, Financial Director at Joe Browns who trialled the service earlier this year, said: “This is another step forward from Hermes in helping to make our customer journey simpler. Returns have always been a fundamental part of clothing mail order and, with recent changes in buying habits switching from in store to on- line, this has become increasingly important. As a business the more information we can collect in an electronic format the more efficient we become. “What’s in the box” gives both us and our customers exactly what they need.”

Logistics, News

New Distribution Depot Opens Creating 133 Jobs

This week sees the opening of a new distribution depot by Hermes UK, the consumer delivery specialists, in Valor Park, West Thurrock. Around 140 new jobs have been created at the 157K sq ft warehouse, which has been opened ahead of the busy Black Friday and Christmas peak periods.

The new facility will be able to handle over 115K parcels each day with the ability to operate 24/7 as needed. It forms part of the ongoing investment programme by Hermes UK to expand its capacity to meet the huge demand created by people shopping at home during lockdown and the continuing growth in the sector. The company estimates that it will see record parcel volumes later this year.

‘’It has been a hectic but successful couple of days since we opened. Our new team includes people from all kinds of professions who have been made redundant as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and being able to employ so many local people from the area has been really important for me. We are getting ready for a busy Black Friday and Christmas period and will be working hard to ensure that our customers continue to get a fantastic service,” said Sidonia Grigorie Depot General Manager.

News

Hermes can now deliver to any 3 metre square in the UK using what3words

Hermes, one of the leading consumer delivery companies in the UK, has partnered with innovative addressing company what3words to provide even more accurate deliveries. From today, Hermes can now accept what3words addresses from any retailer or e-commerce client and deliver to that exact location.

what3words is a simple way to talk about, and share location. The system divides the world into 57 trillion 3 metre squares, giving each square a new, simplified address made up of three dictionary words. For example, the exact 3 metre square of the front door of what3words London HQ is at ///filled.count.soap.

what3words provides a simple, innovative and robust way for couriers to deliver parcels right to a customer’s doorstep or desired delivery point. Street addresses across the UK can be inaccurate: pins can drop in the centre of the building, leaving couriers struggling to find the correct door or access point, and postcodes often cover a large area. what3words addresses are even more accurate than postal addresses and allow customers to specify their precise delivery location, whether a doorstep or a safe place in their garden.

Hermes delivers over 400 million parcels each year on behalf of some of the UK’s largest online retailers including H&M, Next, ASOS, JD Williams and Debenhams. At the height of lockdown, Hermes delivered 2.5million parcels in one day – beating their previous record during Christmas 2019 of 2.1million.

As online shopping continues to grow, what3words has seen a 833% increase in adoption of its addressing technology on the checkout pages of retailers around the UK, who are looking to provide customers with a way to ensure their delivery makes it to the correct place or a safe contact-free location.

Using the Hermes app, customers can add the what3words address to their profile. The driver will then have the what3words address in addition to the traditional address information, such as postcodes, providing an extra layer of detail for the last mile of the delivery.

Clare Jones, CCO at what3words explained that, “Hermes is leading the way in the UK, delivering on the promise of fast, efficient deliveries for its customers. Traditional street addresses aren’t accurate enough to deliver your online orders smoothly every time. This year has shown the importance of e-commerce, and the role it plays in the UK – with record numbers predicted this Christmas period. This means more deliveries, more new delivery drivers on the road and more customers with increasingly high expectations for fast and seamless deliveries.

Hermes app users only have to update their preferred what3words delivery address once, and every subsequent order, dispatched by Hermes, will arrive at that precise three-metre square. For the retailers, our integration means that Hermes e-commerce clients can deliver to any 3m square in the UK.”

Chris Ashworth, CIO at Hermes UK, said: “We’re really excited to team up with what3words and become the first delivery company in the UK to provide what3words addresses for any parcel. This marks the latest development in our innovation portfolio that we had been planning for some time, however given the pandemic, when we have experienced five years’ growth in five months due to online shopping behaviours changing, we have expedited the use of this tech to further enhance our contact-free deliveries option, at a time when both our clients and their customers need efficient, safe deliveries.”

The Hermes Parcels app is free and can be downloaded for iOS and Android.
Hermes customers can discover the what3words address for their property entrance or safe place via the free what3words app available for iOS and Android, and the online map.