Left to right: Tommi Kasurinen, vice president for finance, store sites and logistics of Kesko, and Peter Ervasalo, managing director, DHL Express Finland
Finnish retail operator Kesko, part of the K-Group, has signed a partnership agreement with DHL Express to install parcel lockers and operate parcel shops at K-Group retail stores across Finland.
The first phase of the agreement will see up to 30 parcel lockers installed in Kesko grocery and hardware stores in Helsinki, Jyväskylä, Kuopio, Lahti, Lappeenranta, Oulu, Tampere, Turku and Vaasa. The first phase is scheduled for completion by the end of 2015 with a further 70 locations available by the end of 2016. This will be further increased to 250-300 locations in two years’ time.
The DHL Express parcel lockers, supplied by Danish firm SwipBox, will initially be used to receive parcels, although the second phase will allow customers to send parcels from the lockers.
Peter Ervasalo, managing director of DHL Express Finland, said, “Growing international e-commerce means that the number of shipments we transport has increased, as has the number of private customers. In the past few years the share of business-to-customer shipments has grown to more than 50% of our total shipments. In addition to receiving, we now want to make sending parcels as simple as possible to private persons. K-Group’s nationwide retail store network provides great opportunities to offer consumers new service options where they shop anyway.”
Tommi Kasurinen, vice president for finance, store sites and logistics, Kesko, added, “We want to offer our customers a wide range of services and make their everyday life easier. The world comes closer to the customer. Starting in a few weeks’ time, DHL parcels can be conveniently picked up from the first K-stores in connection with shopping with us. It is wonderful that through this partnership we will enable a new kind of DHL Express service through our retail network.”
September 24, 15
