Cut undeliverable shipments by 64% with DHL retail outlet routing

Shipments that come back as undeliverable are more than annoying, and returns are a real cost factor in online retail. But it doesn't have to be that way. With DHL's retail outlet routing(Filial-Routing) you can cut costs, reduce your return rate significantly, contribute to sustainability, and raise customer satisfaction at the same time. Here's how.

Whether your sales are high or low, goods that come back as undeliverable are both a nuisance and an unnecessary cost. Every returned item means double the effort, multiple shipping costs, extra environmentally harmful transport, and dissatisfied customers. The reasons a shipment comes back are varied and largely outside the retailer's control.

Why do shipments come back at all?

Some circumstances that make shipments undeliverable:

• The recipient's name isn't on the doorbell or mailbox

• The building, unit, street, or house number can't be identified

• Access to the building is restricted

• The recipient has moved

• A misspelled name or address

A second chance cuts costs and raises satisfaction

If the courier can't find the recipient, a further delivery attempt will fail too. The solution: give undeliverable shipments a second chance. As a DHL business customer, simply add the retail outlet routing service to every national shipment, parcel or Warenpost/Kleinpaket. It pays off: retail outlet routing reduces the return rate for shipments with an unknown recipient by an average of 64%. Booking is free and only charged when the service is actually used.

How the second chance works: add retail outlet routing to each national shipment for free. If a shipment is undeliverable, it's rerouted to the nearest outlet instead of being sent straight back to you, and held there for seven business days. Only then is the service charged a flat fee per shipment (DHL parcel €1.99 / Warenpost €1.49). The recipient is notified by email and can collect the shipment by showing the collection code on a smartphone or a printed email.

You win several times over: most returns are avoided (which also helps sustainability, since there's no extra transport), you save the cost of the return and re-shipping, and your customers are happier because they still get their order as quickly as possible. How you handle communication is flexible: the collection notice can be sent automatically by DHL, or you can contact the customer yourself.

Does retail outlet routing pay off?

How many returns and how much money you save depends on the volume of undeliverable shipments and the collection rate. On average, 64% of shipments rerouted to an outlet are collected. A worked example: at a 64% collection rate, an example parcel price of €5, and 500 undeliverable shipments, you save more than €1,800 (excluding internal costs of re-intake and customer contact):

All the advantages at a glance

• Higher customer satisfaction: customers don't have to wait and can conveniently collect their shipment at the nearest outlet by showing the email.

• Cost savings: avoid expensive returns, re-intake, customer contact, and re-shipping, for savings of over 25%.

• Easy handling: add the service to each parcel or Warenpost shipment; if undeliverable, rerouting and notification happen automatically, and only then is it billed.

• Flexible communication: as an alternative to DHL's email, you can contact customers yourself, an extra chance to strengthen loyalty or improve address quality.

• Integration with shipping software: you can use DHL parcel-outlet routing easily via Sendcloud.

Who can use DHL retail outlet routing?

If you're a DHL business customer shipping nationally as a parcel or Kleinpaket, you can simply add the routing service to each shipment.

Want to find out more about how Sendcloud works with DHL, or start retail outlet routing? Visit our DHL carrier page.