Finland's first DHL parcel lockers to arrive in the K-Group stores

KESKO PRESS RELEASE 09.09.2015 AT 10.00 1(2)

DHL Express and the K-Group have signed a cooperation agreement which will make 250-300 DHL service points available at the K-Group's food stores and building and home improvement stores in different parts of Finland.

DHL Express and the K-Group have signed an agreement on large scale service point cooperation, covering both the establishment of parcel lockers at K-stores and a network of service points across Finland. With their cooperation, both Kesko and DHL want to meet the requirements of the booming e-commerce.

- We want to offer our customers a wide range of services and make shopping and daily life easier for them. Our partnering with the international DHL will bring the world closer to our customers. Starting already in a few weeks' time, parcels transported by DHL can be conveniently picked up in connection with shopping with us, says Tommi Kasurinen, Vice President for finance, store sites and logistics of Kesko's home improvement and speciality goods trade.

In the first stage, parcel lockers and service points will be set up at K-food stores and K-rauta stores in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, Jyväskylä, Kuopio, Lahti, Lappeenranta, Oulu, Tampere, Turku and Vaasa.

- For us, the growth of international e-commerce has meant that the number of shipments we transport has increased, as has the number of private customers. The share of business-to-consumer parcels has grown to more than 50 per cent of our total shipments. In addition to receiving, we now want to make sending parcels as simple as possible. The K-Group's wide retail store network provides excellent opportunities to offer private customers new service options at locations where they shop anyway and make their transactions with us even more easier, says Peter Ervasalo, Managing Director of DHL Express Finland.

The first yellow parcel lockers will be set up in the K-Group stores during September-October and the first service points during the rest of the year. By the end of 2015, there will be some 30 lockers ready to receive parcels; at the service points, both receiving and sending is possible. It is planned that by the end of 2016, DHL Express services will be available at some 100 locations and in 2017, at approximately 250-300 locations. Kesko's international operations enable corresponding cooperation to be launched also in other countries in the future.

At the initial stage, DHL parcel lockers will receive both international and domestic parcels shipped via DHL Express. In the next stage, it will be possible to send parcels through the parcel lockers, too. At DHL Service Points, both options will be available.

Further information:
Tommi Kasurinen, Vice President for finance, store sites and logistics of Kesko's home improvement and speciality goods trade, tel. +358 105 320 125, tommi.kasurinen@kesko.fi
Mika Rautiainen, Vice President for marketing and concept services, Kesko's grocery trade, tel. +358 105 322 090, mika.rautiainen@kesko.fi
Peter Ervasalo, Managing Director, DHL Express Finland, tel. +358 40 841 6120, peter.ervasalo@dhl.com

Kesko is the fifth most sustainable company in the world (The Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World). We are a retail specialist whose chains have about 2,000 stores in the Nordic and Baltic countries, Russia, and Belarus. Our stores offer quality to the daily lives of consumers. K - For shopping to be fun.

DHL is the leading global brand in the logistics industry. DHL's family of divisions offer an unrivalled portfolio of logistics services ranging from national and international parcel delivery, international express, road, air and ocean transport to industrial supply chain management. With more than 325,000 employees in over 220 countries and territories worldwide, they connect people and businesses securely and reliably, enabling global trade flows. With specialized solutions for growth markets and industries including e-Commerce, technology, life science and healthcare, energy, automotive and retail, a proven commitment to corporate responsibility and an unrivalled presence in developing markets, DHL is decisively positioned as "The logistics company for the world". DHL is part of Deutsche Post DHL Group. The Group generated revenues of more than 56 billion euros in 2014.