EXPRESS Division
World market leader for international express services
EXPRESS in figures
- Countries and territories: 220
- Main global hubs: 3
- Servicepoints: 36,750
- Vehicles: approx. 31,500
- Customers: approx. 2.6 million
In the EXPRESS division, we transport urgent documents and goods reliably and on time from door to door. Our network spans more than 220 countries and territories, in which some 100,000 employees provide services for more than 2.6 million customers. As a global network operator that applies standardised processes, we are well aware that the quality of our services and the satisfaction of our customers are crucial in determining our success. That is why we are constantly optimising our service to keep our customer commitments and respond specifically to customers' wishes. It is not by accident that DHL is the world market leader in international express services.
Portfolio of time-definite products simplified and strengthened
International time-definite courier and express shipments are our core business. Our main product, Time Definite, offers delivery as fast as possible. Our premium Time Definite product with guaranteed pre-12 delivery and money-back guarantee was substantially expanded in 75 destination countries, creating more than a million additional postcode combinations where our customers benefit from our improved range of services.
Our portfolio is complemented by special industry-specific services such as Collect and Return and Medical Express. Customers in high-tech industries in particular use Collect and Return, in which critical goods in need of repair are collected from the end user, taken in for repair and then returned to the user.
DHL has also increased activities for customers in the Life Sciences & Healthcare sector. In the year under review, we began offering various types of thermal packaging for temperature-controlled, chilled and frozen contents. These types of packaging are easy to order from our regional supply centres.
In addition, we have extended our network. For example, the number of our Service Points increased to the current 36,750, 1,000 were added in emerging markets and in Africa alone. At these Service Points, customers paying directly can purchase our Express Easy product even if they do not have a customer account. This simple product with its transparent price and weight categories and recyclable packaging is gaining steadily in popularity.
To allow us to concentrate on our core business of international time-critical shipments, we are offering our Economy Select product in the Day Definite area in fewer markets than before.
Regions
Increased presence in the Americas region
Our focus on the international express business has continued to prove successful in the Americas region. We succeeded in growing our presence in this market, with an increase in our share from 13% to 16% in 2011.
After having expanded our global hub in Cincinnati in 2011, in March 2012 we broke ground for an additional expansion. This will create around 280 new jobs. Given that business in the region is developing well and we see high long-term potential, we opened a new hub in Mexico in September 2012.
Leading position in Europe strengthened
Although the European economy had already softened in 2011, we raised our market share in the international express segment from 38% to 41%, thus remaining the market leader. This testifies to the fact that our strategy holds firm even in difficult times.
Market leadership solidified in Asia
Asia is an important and profitable market for us. We also solidified our leading market position in this region in 2011 with a rise of four percentage points to 40%.
Since 2012, we have also been offering customers in Asia our Collect and Return service. The completion of our North Asia Hub in Shanghai puts us in an excellent position for the future. Our customers now have faster access to international markets and benefit from earlier delivery times.
Reliable partner in countries affected by political crises
Effective 1 January 2012, we aligned the structure of our regions to reflect management responsibility. We transferred Turkey as well as Russia and other Eastern European countries from the EEMEA region (Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa) to the Europe region. The EEMEA region was renamed MEA (Middle East and Africa). We have been growing steadily in this region for many years and we have the largest market share by far in the international express business. Since there are no studies that sufficiently cover the market in its new form, we have not included any such portrayal.
The political unrest in the Middle East posed a particular challenge for us in the reporting year. We were able to maintain service in Syria despite having to close or move branches at short notice. This was also the case in Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iran and Yemen, where we remained a reliable partner for our local customers whilst upholding all legal requirements and ensuring our employees' safety.
