Logistics and DHL Germany
Here you'll learn how to connected with Zalando as Connected Retail partner with DHL in Germany.
Please note that the information on this page is currently only valid for Germany.
About DHL / Consignee Services
As a logistics partner in e-commerce, DHL transports an average of 5.9 million parcel shipments daily. DHL has around 90,000 delivery staff in Germany and offers a dense network of branches, parcel shops and Packstations.
To date, over 3,000 stores have been successfully connected to Connected Retail, which will have successfully delivered over 12 million parcels to customers in 2022.
With DHL, you offer your customers the option to choose between different delivery options when they place their order. The most commonly used options are delivery to the front door (regular delivery), a defined drop-off location, one of over 9,000 Packstations, one of over 30,000 parcel shops or post offices, or delivery on the day of your choice.
The first steps: DHL account and DHL landing page
To connect to Zalando Connected Retail, you need a contract with DHL Paket. DHL Paket provides a special landing page for this purpose. After submitting, DHL Paket will contact you. The landing page must also be completed if you already have a contract with DHL Paket.
If you have any questions, please contact DHL Paket (telephone: 0201 4371 6000/ Mon. - Thurs. 08:00 - 16:30; Fri. 08:00 - 15:00).
FAQs
DHL
What is the DHL customer number / EKP for?
The number is used for the individual assignment of your company.
What is the DHL billing number?
The 14-digit billing number is made up of the EKP 10-digit, the procedure 2-digit (identifies the products used e.g. 01=Shipping Standard /07=Returns) and the participation 2-digit and allows you to link it to the invoice. You will receive a billing number for shipping and a billing number for your returns.
What is the DHL identification number/number range?
The identification number identifies your shipments and will be partially visible on your shipping and returns labels. A term used as a synonym is number range.
How long do I have to wait to receive my billing number and number range from DHL?
You will receive the above-mentioned numbers from your DHL sales representative after conclusion of the contract or contract extension. It takes approx. 5 working days after conclusion of the contract. Your DHL sales representative will proactively contact you by phone to discuss the contractual content and next steps.
Who can I contact if the billing/identification numbers are incorrect?
Please contact your DHL sales representative and explicitly state that you are a Connected Retail customer. Your DHL sales representative may need to search the internal DHL intranet for the information they need.
Are the username and password for the business customer portal the same as the system user and password?
No, both are separate accesses.
The DHL Business Customer Portal requires a username and password that must be renewed every 3 months. Please look out for the relevant email reminders from DHL.
After the initial registration in the DHL Business Customer Portal, you will receive a link from DHL for activation.
System users and system passwords must be created later in the process of connecting your branches under "Manage users". We will contact you by e-mail as soon as we need the information for further processing. The system user password only needs to be renewed once a year. You can set appropriate email reminders via the DHL Business Customer Portal.
The template in the welcome email I receive from DHL has two columns marked in red. What needs to be entered here?
Please enter the system user and password.
The template I received back from DHL has columns marked in grey. What do I have to enter here?
Please fill in the grey columns with your respective store details (settlement numbers and identification numbers) according to the labelling.
I have filled in everything, what happens next?
Please send the completed template to partner-care@zalando.de. The Operations Team will use this data to start the connection process.
Collections
Who do I register collections with?
DHL would like to present you with two options for this, which differ depending on the shipment quantity, volume and frequency: The regular collection and the on-demand collection.
On-demand collection: We have already set up an on-demand collection for you free of charge. You can have up to five items collected daily from your contract address. Simply register the quantity of items to be collected the day before in the Business Customer Portal (dhl.de) under "Collection - Order".
Regular collection: If you would like to have more than five items collected daily or if you have certain days of the week on which you would like them to be collected, we recommend that you switch to regular collection. You can arrange this by calling your sales contact on 0201 - 4371 6002 (Mon.-Thu.: 8-16:30; Fri.: 8-15).
If you did not request the collection when concluding the contract, you can book the individual collection for a fee in the business customer portal under "Collection"(“Abholen”).
Can I drop off my parcels myself?
Generally, parcels can also be brought to the post office branch/parcel shop - the labels can also be scanned here. This is relevant if the regular collection is not sufficient due to a promotion (e.g. Black Friday).
Can we also deliver to customers abroad with Connected Retail?
This is currently not possible.
Possible problems in the portal
How can I change the system user password?
The system user password currently needs to be changed once a year. To do this, please follow the instructions in the welcome email you receive from DHL. Please send the new password to our team via the contact form on Zalando Partner University. This is necessary because your user data is also stored in the Connected Retail systems and this allows you to print the shipping label. See the detailed instructions "Updating your access data in the DHL Business Customer Portal" here.
If you have any problems with your system user in the DHL Business Customer Portal, you can contact DHL on the following hotline:
Technical Support
Telephone: 0228 - 7636 7679 (Mon.-Fri.: 8 am - 6 pm)
E-mail address: zalando-zcr@deutschepost.de
Please ensure that you have a PC or tablet with internet access, your EKP, or the billing numbers in case of multiple stores.
Our identification numbers/number ranges are about to expire: what should I do?
Before your identification numbers/number ranges expire, our team will take over the extension in consultation with DHL . If the number ranges have nevertheless expired, please contact our team as soon as possible via the contact form on Zalando Partner University.
Business Customer Service: 0228 - 2860 9800 (Mon.-Fri.: 8am-1pm)
Sales: 0201 - 4371 6002 (Mon.-Thu.: 8-16:30; Fri.: 8-15).