“We are becoming more innovative, and that’s the position we want to bring to the delivery market,” is the phrase Hermes CEO uses to describe the explosive tech growth of the company.
Speaking to Tamebay at TDCGlobal (The Delivery Conference), Martijn de Lange, CEO of Hermes said that the delivery supplier didn’t have a history of innovation until recently but have caught up other suppliers in the field and in fact have overtaken some.
This became evident when Hermes started their innovation path last year by introducing their Digital Future programme. The scheme aims to deliver visibility and control of their parcels to customers. It uses IMIconnect technology to provide retailers and their customers with notifications and tracking of their delivery.
Martijn said that this year Hermes updated their programme to be called Digital Future+. The new initiative uses a three-pronged approach including control, assurance and best in class retail.
- Control – gives more control over their parcels with real-time tracking notificants.
- Assurance – uses customers data to create personalised experiences.
- Best in class retail – encompasses innovative initiatives such as Hermes recent launch of augmented reality video messages to accompany each parcel and introduction of parcel lockers in their nationwide network.
Martijn said that Hermes is the only supplier to offer shoppers the convenience of using their shop and parcel lockers for delivery pickups. While parcel lockers isn’t a new innovation, said Martijn, introducing the service has been complementary to Hermes’ network filling in gaps where there are currently no ParcelShops.
Hermes CEO on keeping their delivery promise
Hermes have rolled out a two-pronged proof of delivery as part of their Digital Future initiative to provide customers with peace of mind. Their new technology enables the capture of one of two forms of proof of delivery – either a signature and geo-location or a photo of the parcel in a safe place and it’s geo-location. This gives consumers peace of mind that their delivery has taken place and the parcel is where they courier says it was left.
Martijn said that we would see Hermes introducing more innovations later on this year to strengthen their reputation as a tech-driven player in the field.
