Swiss Post faces further competition in the parcel business
After DHL's entry into the Swiss market, further trouble threatens Swiss Post: DPD is considering cooperation with DHL.
Only recently, DHL set its sights on the Swiss market with its own company and announced its intention to undercut the prices of the domestic postal service (Werbewoche.ch reported). This is much to the delight of the local online stores, which hope that the lower prices will make them more competitive against foreign competitors such as Zalando, Amazon or Alibaba.
Now the air in the parcel business could become even thinner. As the SonntagsZeitung reported in its current issue, DPD, a subsidiary of the French La Poste, is flirting with a partnership with its German counterpart DHL in the Swiss market. DPD has also been active in Switzerland for some time and delivers to every household in this country.
Together in remote mountain valleys
The newspaper quotes Tilmann Schultze, head of DPD Switzerland. He could "well imagine" a collaboration with DHL to jointly deliver to households in rural regions, Schultze said. Until now, both companies have been using their own vehicles to deliver to remote mountain valleys. Joining forces would lead to a reduction in costs for DHL and DPD.
For the time being, this is only a thought on the part of DPD; no talks have yet taken place. In France, however, the two companies are already working together on international shipping. DHL states vis-à-vis the SonntagsZeitung There are currently no plans for cooperation in Switzerland.
DPD questions DHL low prices
For the parcel services, the next price negotiations with the most important Swiss customers, the large online stores, are coming up. The contracts are usually valid for six months. After the declaration of war from Germany, the struggle for the lowest prices and the best offers is likely to become even tougher. At DPD, however, they do not want to get involved in a price war with the Germans in Switzerland, as Schultze says. Rather, they want to steadily expand their own service. He also questions whether DHL will come up with low prices in Switzerland - after all, the company has announced price increases for 2019 in various countries.
Swiss Post still has a clear lead in the parcel business with a market share of 80 percent. DPD has 10 percent. But DHL will not be satisfied with a comparable slice of the pie. In Austria, three years after entering the parcel business, it already has a 25 percent share. (hae)
