DHL has launched its Import Express scheme regionally, incorporating two new features.
Import Express customers will be billed in the currency of their choice and a personalised executive traveller card will allow the business traveller to send packages and documents back to their home country.
These two features have been added to Import Express which was recently launched and which notched a year-on-year growth rate of nearly 80 per cent. This growth factor has helped DHL re-position this convenient product as a barometer to trade growth in the Gulf region.
"Import Express has come to reflect the growth of imports into the region which has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. Importing via air express is easy and enables businesses to bring goods to market faster and improve their customer service," says Phil Couchman, regional director, DHL Middle East.
India, China, Pakistan and the Philippines, key Gulf trading partners, have been added to the premium Import Express service network which has now brought the total number of countries from which customers can import direct via DHL to 206. Last year, top Import Express inbound destinations to the Gulf were US, UK and France.
The inbound service has become a convenient door-to-door, all-inclusive priced service and is a welcome boost to Gulf importers. They can now have shipments originally from many more countries expressed to this region within one to three working days, depending on the country of origin, says Couchman.
Import Express makes payment processes extremely simple, reduces administration time, eliminates piles of invoices from different vendors and enables the importer to be in direct control of deliveries and costs when importing, he says.
DHL pays all customs duties in advance on behalf of the customer and duties are collected on delivery. The Import Express account is charged back to the customer at pre-agreed rates.
"Import Express gives you the assurance that no matter where the shipment comes from, it will be picked up and delivered promptly and in good shape by one single party - DHL. It is our outbound service in reverse," Couchman adds.
"At present most people think of air express as an outbound service when in fact it is most effective when used as a dual inbound and outbound facility."
An added advantage of the service is that both sender and receive can track shipment progress on DHL's Internet website www.dhl.com or via email on its E-Track software system.
The phenomenal boom of Internet and electronic commerce is unearthing tremendous opportunities for the air express industry which serves as the fulfillment backbone, says Marc Duale, chief operating officer for DHL Asia-Pacific/Middle East.
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