DHL Freight

Combining their features into a single website made it easier for DHL Freight customers to access services

2016

dhlfreight.com

DHL is a leading global provider of logistics services, represented in over 220 countries and employing 340 thousand people all over the world. DHL Freight is a separate division which ensures truck transportation for all of Europe. It provides its services through branches located in 21 countries, for which the division management needed to ensure local functional websites with a single shared access point, so customers can find all the necessary data about their shipments in a single place.

The original fragmented solution didn’t meet user demands

The European division was only partially presented on the parent DHL.com website. To gain information about the services and shipments, users had to use several specialized applications, which was a problem. Checking the shipping options, prices, and deadlines, including the status of a single shipment meant logging into multiple applications. Each with a different design, structure, and control logic.

In 2015, DHL Freight launched a project focused on designing its own website, independent of the corporate presentation of DHL, where the presentation of the division was severely limited. PUXdesign was one of several potential solution providers. And we chose them because of their technical knowledge, experience in web designing, UX, SEO, and SEA.

Kim MacGillavry

Vice President Customer Experience

DHL Freight GmbH

The client needed a single presentation with language versions for entire Europe which could be modified locally

The client wanted the website to work as a single access point for customers and to be as user-friendly as possible. Given the number of language versions, we were required to make the solution sustainable to ensure that the project could achieve the results expected. According to the assignment, the teams of editors in individual countries had to be able to administer the content of the website to fit the needs of local branches. The language versions had to offer global shipping services among European countries as well as at a local level.

We designed a sustainable solution to administer several websites at the same time

From among global CMSs, such as Sitecore and Adobe Experience Manager, the DHL Freight group chose Kentico as a suitable platform in each and every respect. The entire solution was built on the most extensive EMS licence which we heavily modified, based on the client’s requirements. We created a single global source system which makes it possible to design a website for another country simply by obtaining the requirements for the given region.

Subsequently, we incorporated the requirements into the global settings, where they are then available for the other language versions. The entire solution is designed around feature toggles, no local requirements. In other words, we didn’t create clones of websites but a single global application that we then expanded, making it easy to administer and further develop it.

As part of the assignment, we created its design and ensured promotion of the company on the Internet

The DHL Freight group didn’t contact us only based on our experience with the Kentico platform; they were also interested in our comprehensive services related to the websites of its European branches. For these purposes we designed a new solution as well as a user-friendly form that lets customers to quickly and intuitively order the services they need.

In addition to a price calculator, the form offers an option to place an order to ship standardized pallets, shipment insurance as well as precise delivery dates. We asked specialists from Proficio to design a strategy for online marketing activities to support the brand and services on the European market, and they’ve been setting up campaigns, assessing the results of measurements, and ensuring other support options directly with the client ever since.

As a result, the number of placed orders grew and administering the websites of all European branches became easier

We designed and co-created a unique website for truck transportation heavily supported in the DHL Freight headquarters in Bonn, Germany. One of the benchmarks to assess the success of our job was launching a pilot website in the Netherlands and gradually implementing a plan to launch localized websites in other countries. Another criteria was the speed of deploying the new website. Currently, the client is able to launch a new language version, including entire technical and content preparations, within a single month. And the major growth in the number of orders placed in the countries where the new websites have been launched is a clear indication that the solution is now much more user-friendly.

The new website presentation of DHL Freight won the Kentico Site of the Year 2016 award in the Best Business Services Site category, which is another testament to its top quality.

What I appreciate about PUXdesign is their excellent work and willingness to accept any challenge. They’ve become an active support resource of the entire project and have worked as a part of our Customer Experience team all along. They’ve participated in the development and implementation of the DLH Freight website from the introductory concept and project phase to the localization and implementation of the websites for individual countries. I’m happy to recommend PUXdesign as a partner to any company needing help with designing, developing, and optimizing their website.

Kim MacGillavry

Vice President Customer Experience

DHL Freight GmbH

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