• 15 per cent more parcels than last year's Christmas season: DPD once more expects record business

• Standard parcels should be shipped by 19 December at the latest, express parcels by noon on 21 December

• Tips for consumers: digital parcel management with the DPD App, and seven golden rules for the perfectly packaged Christmas parcel 

Aschaffenburg, 7 November 2018 – Christmas is a time for parcels, and in the coming weeks millions of seasonal parcels will once more be shipped. DPD will handle more shipments than ever before. Compared with Christmas 2017 the company is expecting growth of 15%, and has prepared itself for the busiest time of the year and its massive parcel volumes with additional vehicles and personnel. During the Christmas period, too, digital management of parcels by consignees will help to ensure that their parcels arrive as planned.

On the busiest days before Christmas DPD expects up to 50% more parcels than on an average day during the year, rising at peak times to over 300,000 parcel deliveries per hour. To make sure that all these parcels reliably reach the consignee, up to 4,000 additional personnel and around 2,000 additional vehicles are involved in delivery operations, as well as in sorting and handling at the distribution centres.

Shipping in time for Christmas

This year Christmas Eve falls on a Monday, which is why DPD recommends that standard parcels should be sent off by 12 noon on Wednesday, 19 December, to make sure that they arrive in time for Christmas throughout the country. Express parcels will also arrive in good time if they are sent by 12 noon on Friday, 21 December. For international shipping to EU countries the final day for shipping is between 13 and 18 December, depending on the country of destination. Information about delivery times for international shipments is provided online by the Delivery time calculator on the DPD website. For DPD the final day for making deliveries will be 24 December, but only express parcels will be delivered.

The right packing and labelling

To make sure that Christmas parcels arrive punctually and securely, the following golden rules for packing and labelling shipments should be followed:

• The shipping carton should be stable, secure and undamaged. The cardboard box must be strong enough for the weight of its contents - even in the event of impact.

• On the outside the parcel should not be decorated with gift wrapping or ribbons, because these could get caught up in the automatic sorting equipment.

• Any hollow spaces in the box should be filled with padding, to make sure that the contents can't move around.

• Breakable objects should not come directly into contact with the shipping carton, and should be given additional protection by bubble wrap and similar packaging materials.

• The label should always be applied to the largest surface of the parcel.

• If several labels are applied (for example additional address information), they must not overlap.

• Old parcel labels/barcodes should be removed or made unreadable.

Christmas parcels always in view with the DPD App

Those wishing to follow the progress of their gifts live can do so with ease, thanks to DPD's digital services such as the Parcel Navigator or – when they are on the go – with the DPD App. With DPD's Live-Tracking service a detailed online map shows consignees in real time exactly where their parcels are at the moment. In addition, for every parcel DPD tells the consignee the exact hour during which it will be delivered. In the course of the day this delivery-time notification even narrows down to the last 30 minutes. Any consignee who won't be at home then can simply use one of DPD's digital delivery options. At the click of a mouse or the tap of a finger the consignee can, for example, arrange for the shipment to be left in a safe place or delivered on a different day. Alternatively, shipments can be individually redirected – for example to a Pickup parcelshop.

Pickup parcelshops: digitally managed parcel shipping

Thanks to the Pickup Parcelshop Finder at www.dpd.de it's easy to find the nearest of DPD's more than 6,000 Pickup parcelshops. The site also provides all the relevant information, such as opening hours and the address of the shop. In the DPD Parcel Navigator or in the DPD App the shipping of parcels can be implemented completely digitally, payment included, without the need to print and apply labels. Even without registration consignors can quickly and easily create a mobile, coded parcel label and store it in apps such as the Wallet (iOS) or PassWallet (Android). The delivery charge can then conveniently be paid by PayPal or direct debit before the parcel is dropped off at a Pickup parcelshop for shipping.

About DPD

DPD Germany is part of DPDgroup, the second-largest international parcel delivery network in Europe. Throughout Germany DPD has 78 depots and 6,000 Pickup parcelshops. A workforce of 9,500 and 11,000 delivery drivers are in daily operation on behalf of the company’s customers. Every year the No. 2 on the German parcels market ships around 375 million parcels – providing carbon-neutral transport operations at no additional cost to the customer.

Through innovative technology, local knowledge and dedicated customer care, DPD provides the best possible experience for both shippers and shoppers. DPD’s industry-leading Predict service is setting a new standard for keeping customers closely in touch with their delivery, with real time tracking of their delivery, a one-hour delivery window and a range of options for redirecting parcels. In recognition of this innovation DPD Germany received several awards like the Digital Transformation Award or the UX Design Award.

As part of DPDgroup, DPD Germany has access to over 32,000 local Pickup points across Europe, and delivers to 230 countries worldwide. DPDgroup’s 38,000 people work together to deliver more than 4.8 million parcels each day. The sole shareholder in DPD is GeoPost, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Le Groupe La Poste. GeoPost posted sales of €6.8 billion in the year 2017.