According to Hermes Survey, Parcel Service Providers Contribute to Quality of Life

How do Germans want to live in the future? And what role do parcel service providers play in their living environment? A representative YouGov survey commissioned by Hermes Germany sheds light on the role of parcel services for modern society in urban and rural areas. The demand for future-proof solutions is growing.

(Hamburg) How do Germans want to live in the future? This question is becoming increasingly pressing, especially in cities. The need for future-proof solutions for sustainable mobility and efficient infrastructure is becoming evident every day. Not only to create positive effects on the climate but also to create livable places. Delivery service providers have gained relevance during the Corona crisis – and in this context, they also play a shaping role: More than half of Germans (58%) believe they contribute positively to the quality of life in their respective residential areas. Every second person (50%) also states that they would benefit if parcel service providers were more involved in shaping a livable city. This was the result of a representative YouGov survey* commissioned by Hermes Germany, which examines the role of parcel services for modern society.

Marco Schlüter, Managing Director Operations Hermes Germany GmbH

“As a logistics provider and a company deeply rooted regionally across the country, we not only shape urban and rural living spaces but also actively design them,” explains Marco Schlüter, Chief Operations Officer at Hermes Germany. “The current tension in cities is particularly evident: On one hand, we are dealing with increasing shipment volumes, more delivery traffic, and less space. At the same time, the calls for more livable space and measures for CO₂ reduction are growing louder. We are aware that as a parcel service provider, we make an important contribution to the quality of life of people. That is why we are leveraging the enormous development potential that is opening up here to develop new, sustainable solutions for the parcel and city logistics of tomorrow.”

Parcel Services Increase Quality of Life for More Than Every Second Person

In the YouGov survey, general factors for quality of life in rural areas and in (sub)urban areas were also queried: About one-sixth (14%) of all Germans rate the quality of life at their place of residence as excellent, and another 50% as very good. While the rural population appreciates nature (86%) and safety (77%), urban residents find shopping opportunities (82%) and medical care (79%) particularly enhance their living environment. In suburban areas, nature (74%) and shopping opportunities (71%) are significant drivers of quality of life.

Parcel service providers like Hermes also have a significant impact on the quality of life of people in this country: For more than every second person (58%), they mean a positive contribution to the quality of life at their place of residence – this opinion is shared more strongly in rural areas (62%) than in cities (55%).

No Supply Security Without Parcel Service Providers

About two-thirds of all respondents (62%) see the greatest contribution in supply services. Especially during the Corona pandemic, parcel services have proven essential for the secure supply of the population. Even during lockdowns, there was reliable and fast service. In terms of accessibility and quality of parcel services, the judgment is better in cities (77%) and suburbs (73%), where the distances are generally shorter, than in rural areas (59%). The Hermes PaketShop network also has a significantly higher density in cities than in rural areas: The average distance to the nearest PaketShop is about 0.9 km in city centers, about 1.6 km in urban areas. In rural areas, it is about 4 km.

86% Want Flexibility Between Online and Offline Shopping

Our living environment has changed significantly in recent years, as has purchasing behavior. For 68% of Germans, online shopping has become indispensable in everyday life. However, for nine out of ten respondents (86%), the flexible choice between online and brick-and-mortar stores represents an aspect of modern life, allowing them to choose one shopping form or the other as needed. In this view, suburban residents do not differ from the rural population. However, online shopping solves more practical problems for rural residents: 80% state that some products are not available near their place of residence, and one in five shops for drugstore products more than 10 km away from home. Overall, the affinity for online or offline shopping is still strongly tied to product categories: Food is almost exclusively purchased offline (90%), and there is still a strong preference for buying drugstore products in local stores (74%). In contrast, for clothing and shoes, online and offline channels are about equal (32% vs. 36%). For electronic devices, there is a slight preference for online purchases (37%).

Sustainability and Individual, Digital Services

Even though the contribution of parcel service providers is already rated positively by significantly more than half of the respondents, there is still room for improvement. Looking to the future, consumers believe that particularly individual delivery options (56%), the pickup of returns (51%), and CO₂-neutral delivery (50%) will become increasingly important for parcel service providers. They hope for a positive contribution to their personal quality of life mainly from a more individualized selection of delivery options (68%), the direct pickup of returns during parcel delivery (61%), and digital customer services (58%). Consumers in cities and suburbs (each 52%) would also benefit if parcel service providers were more involved in creating a livable city (rural: 42%). More than half of city residents (54%) also welcome the expansion of Paketshops or parcel stations. For people in rural areas (50%), however, personal contact with delivery personnel greatly contributes to quality of life.

“The study results confirm once again what we are doing: We are already advancing a number of measures to be climate-neutral by 2030. A goal we have set within the Otto Group. This includes emission-free delivery via e-transporters and cargo bikes, as well as the construction of resource-saving logistics locations. In addition, we are further expanding our PaketShop network and will make digital customer communication significantly more precise. We are also expanding our digital features so that parcel receipt can be even more seamlessly integrated into individual daily life,” explains Marco Schlüter.

*Source: The results are based on a nationwide representative online survey of 2,002 people aged 18 and older. This was conducted by YouGov on behalf of Hermes Germany between May 12 and May 16, 2021.

Photo: © Hermes