Digital customer platform myDHLi now also includes road transport via DHL Freight; New features and functionalities presented at the first myDHLi Digital Summit hosted by DHL.

DHL Global Forwarding, Freight, the leading international freight specialist division of Deutsche Post DHL Group, has today announced new features and greater functionality for myDHLi, coinciding with the digital platform’s first anniversary. After a successful launch of myDHLi and increase, the logistics expert has expanded the global availability of the platform from initially eight to meanwhile 62 countries. In addition, online bookings and sales rose by +56% (yoy Q1/2020 to Q1/2021). The expansion comes along with improvements to existing functionalities, for example, the integration of a “save and edit” option and new services such as myDHLi Reports to increase shipment transparency. In addition, for the first time, the platform is now available for road freight customers, with the roll-out starting in Turkey. To frame the success of speedy innovations along the digital transformation in logistics in general and myDHLi in particular, there will be an annual myDHLi Digital Summit, which was launched with the first event at the DHL Innovation Center in Troisdorf.

“For us, myDHLi translates digitalization into customer-centricity. That's why we put an enormous amount of work in the roll-out. Customers can easily book shipments through the platform that follows modern design principles while having full control over the quotes through 360-degree visibility. By the end of 2020 we had 1,000 customers on the platform. Now, just four months later, we have reached a new high with 3,000 customers spread across 62 countries using myDHLi as of today,” says Tim Scharwath, CEO Global Forwarding, Freight. “In light of this successful launch to market, we will continue to expand the platform by adding more languages over time.”

With a “customer first” approach, the Quote + Book functionality offers improved usability based on user behaviour analysis and modern design principles. Customers can save at any point and resume later during offer validity. This means that, should key details not yet be available at the beginning of the booking process, it is easy to pick back up at a later point to complete. As well as improving usability, the platform offers with myDHLi Reports a new feature that provides full visibility of past and current shipment data for further detailed analysis.

All improvements to the platform follow defined guiding principles for the further development of myDHLi. This includes 360-degree visibility of shipments from start-to-finish, no matter which stage the shipment is at, a multi-channel approach, so that all information is available combined in one place, regardless of which channel a customer uses, and a signaling action process, so that customers can always see where to focus their attention. What’s more, built-in popular social media features like Follow + Share simplify communications along the supply chain by enabling customers to exchange information with their own clients, colleagues, and suppliers.

“At the heart of myDHLi are the needs and experience of our customers,” says Uwe Brinks, CEO DHL Freight. “In light of demand and feedback of the myDHLi users, we have decided to make myDHLi also available to our road freight customers, so they can benefit from the myDHLi features and services already available to our air and ocean freight customers.”

The myDHLi customer platform was successfully launched a year ago and thereby set a new benchmark in a still less digitized industry. It is characterised by a modular structure, allowing subscribers to conveniently personalise their portal. Customers can choose whether they only use the Quote + Book functionality to compare available options and directly book one of the logistics services. They can also access shipment tracking, document management or myDHLi Reports and myDHLi Analytics, which with the latest update now also provides insights into transit times and cost per unit. By adding road freight shipments, myDHLi can satisfy even more customers in the future, making it the one-stop platform for all DHL Global Forwarding, Freight customers. In addition, DHL’s sustainability efforts are integral part of the platform: Since January 2021, DHL Global Forwarding reduces the carbon emissions of all less-than-container load (LCL) ocean freight shipments with sustainable marine biofuels - at no additional cost for the customer. For all other transport modes an offsetting option or neutralization of CO2 emissions via biofuels can be selected if preferred.

Digitalization is one of the strategic pillars at DHL Global Forwarding, Freight, and to further drive developments in this area for the logistics industry, the myDHLi Digital Summit was established and will now take place annually. Besides presenting innovations around myDHLi, this event will continue to create a unique opportunity to drive the progress of digital transformation in logistics, just in line with Deutsche Post DHL Group’s strategy “Delivering Excellence in Digital World”.