"We have never transported as many parcels in our company's entire history as we did last year, and the growth is just continuing in 2013," says Frank Appel, CEO of Deutsche Post DHL. "By expanding our network of DHL parcel shops, we are continuing to systematically focus on the needs of consumers in Germany, becoming even more customer centric and laying the foundation for even more online retailing in Germany."

In a study titled 'Einkaufen 4.0' (Shopping 4.0), Deutsche Post DHL and the market-research firm TNS Infratest conducted a survey about the online shopping habits of approximately 1,800 online shoppers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. A total of 61 percent said they did not want to do without e-commerce. German retailers are already selling nearly 10 percent of their products - or about EUR 30 billion in sales - through mail-order operations. Over the next 10 years, the German E-Commerce and Distance Selling Trade Association predicts the total will rise to up to 20 percent.

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