Section ECONOMY
TOPIC

QUEST GROUP

Innovative services and solutions that modernize courier and postal services of ACS, a Quest Group Company

In alignment with the global market of courier and postal services, ACS has developed a number of e-solutions and services both for corporate clients and consumers, which modernize shipment procedures, adding value to the company and strengthening its sustainable development. 

Corporate clients, professionals and private individuals.

2009 until today.

ACS is the leader in providing courier services for the shipment of documents, small packages and parcels in Greece and abroad. At the same time, our company offers corporate clients premium postal services for the distribution of bills and mail, at competitive prices.

We have been working for 35 years to offer quality and reliable postal services, since we have the largest network in Greece, Cyprus, Albania and Bulgaria, with more than 350 stores. We are the first Greek courier company that invested in computerized equipment and automatic sorting, monitoring and shipment tracking systems, taking full advantage of new technologies. Our greatest innovation in alignment with global markets is the introduction of clients’ online signature together with the exact time upon delivery by using PDAs, modern portable devices connected to the company’s systems that also enable senders to track their shipment online.   

Integrating innovative features, while complying to the highest international quality standards, ACS offers the following courier e-services and solutions: 

1) ACS Automatic Cash on Delivery Transfer Service: Immediate and reliable transfer of money to e-shops from the orders of their customers, by automatically transferring it to their bank accounts through e-banking on a daily basis, and sending an e-mail update of the amounts transferred and the relevant orders;

2) ACS Web Business Tools for e-shops: Solutions designed for e-shops that use ACS services and are interested in automating all shipment-related procedures, through their website interface. Users of these applications (e-shops administrators) are able to calculate the exact shipping cost for each shipment to their customers, automatically create and print ACS vouchers and offer convenience and speed to their customers;

3) ACS Redirect Mobile Web Application: ACS Redirect mobile web service helps ACS shipment recipients when they cannot receive their shipment at the delivery site (as provided by the sender/e-shop) or on the expected day of delivery. Recipients may select a new place or time of delivery quick and easily, with just a couple of taps on their mobile phone;

4) ACS Smart Points of delivery in specific Shell gas stations: As part of our constant investment in new innovative e-Commerce services, ACS has launched a strategic cooperation with Shell gas stations, where e-shop customers may now receive their shipments from specially developed lockers marked as ACS Smart Points, whenever it best suits them;

5) ACS Connect Web Application for Corporate Shipment Management: Corporate clients can track their shipment online, in real time, while checking the cost of their company’s shipments per department; 

6) ACS e-shipping Web Application: ACS clients can provide all details of their shipment online, and automatically call the closest ACS courier to receive their shipment from their location through the ACS website.

In 2013, besides the above courier solutions, with the deregulation of postal services, ACS entered the standard mail industry with its ACS-ABP service. This groundbreaking postal service that offered upgraded standard mail services entered a traditional industry with specific structure, ways of working and quality provided, aspiring to differentiate and offer affordable, upgraded solutions and services to corporate clients who prefer ACS for the distribution of mass shipments, personalized content, NCV shipments (e.g. bills, invoices, bank statements, bank account documents, mail items, letters, insurance documents-letters, etc.). 

By using the ACS-ABP service, corporate clients are informed about the date and time of receipt and delivery of mail items they wish to send to recipients – customers, while receiving detailed daily updates on the progress of their shipments. Furthermore, this service supports features of address validation, shipment collection and delivery confirmation.

 

When developing solutions, in some cases ACS worked in synergy with Quest Group Companies.

ACS e-solutions and services were developed by R&D employees from the IT department, in cooperation with many departments of the company.

Greece, Cyprus, Albania and Bulgaria.

Shipments of corporate clients and individuals are delivered easily, with reliability, transparency and greater savings in terms of resources, time and cost. 

Our innovative services significantly upgrade customer service quality and therefore, customer satisfaction and loyalty. As a result, we have created a competitive advantage and we keep our leading position in the market. 

In terms of measurable results, through the Automatic Cash on Delivery Transfer Service, ACS transferred €450 million in 2015, and the amount of cash on delivery has risen by 14% during the first eight months of 2016 (compared to the relevant eight-month period in 2015). Furthermore, we dispatched 677,436 shipments through our ACS Web Business Tools fro e-shops in 2015, with a constant upward trend over the last years. 

Over the first 8 months of our ACS ReDirect App, which was introduced in 2016, around 24,000 receipt SMSs and 560,000 absent SMSs were sent, and those numbers are increasing each month. 

Finally, over the first 8 months of ACS Smart Points (March – October 2016), 732 shipments were dispatched in total, with average increase of 107%.