GLS is a parcel carrier built around Europe. By its own figures, it operates in more than 50 countries through 115 hubs and about 1,700 depots, with 99,600 Parcel Shops and 36,000 lockers. It’s headquartered in Amsterdam.
GLS belongs to International Distribution Services, the same group as Royal Mail, which has been owned by EP Group since 2025. Over its financial year ending March 2026, GLS delivered 977 million parcels, up 6%.
Reaching GLS from the UK
In the UK, GLS works through a partner rather than its own depots: Parcelforce Worldwide, its sister company within the group. A UK seller reaches the GLS network across the continent by shipping through Parcelforce.
Across the Irish Sea, GLS Ireland covers the whole island, Northern Ireland included, and has been there for 27 years.
GLS parcel services across Europe
EuroBusinessParcel is the flagship service, carrying business and consumer parcels across Europe. ShopDeliveryService sends a parcel to a pickup point near the customer, and ShopReturnService gives customers a return label they can drop off at thousands of points.
FlexDeliveryService lets the recipient take charge of a delivery. They get advance notice by email and can pick another day, switch to a Parcel Shop, reroute the parcel or collect it from the depot. It needs the recipient’s email passed to GLS and a 2D barcode on the label.
The network is growing
GLS says it nearly doubled its out-of-home network in early 2026. In March it launched inboxx, a shared locker brand with DPD, and in May it announced the purchase of Relais Colis in France. In Ireland, a partnership with Viking went live across the island in February 2026.
The GLS developer portal
GLS’s developer portal publishes its APIs by country and for the group as a whole, authenticated with OAuth 2.0 or an API key. Access to some APIs is approved by GLS, usually within one to three business days.
Shipping integrations typically use the ShipIT-Farm API to create labels, alongside an authentication API and an optional customs API. Shipping platforms connect to it too: ShipStation, for one, lists GLS Germany ShipIt as a carrier. Recipients and sellers track parcels with a 12-digit parcel number or Track ID.
Connecting GLS to Shopify
GLS publishes its Shopify apps one country at a time. GLS Germany’s GLS easyConnect creates and cancels labels and updates the shipment status on the order, and the GLS companies in Denmark, the Netherlands and Canada each publish an app of their own.
Closer to home, GLS Ireland’s app lets a store set its shipping rates and print labels when it sends with GLS Ireland.
A carrier is a cost line
GLS reaches a UK seller through Parcelforce and its developer portal, so there are several places to connect it. Labels can be booked straight from the order with the recipient’s email attached for FlexDeliveryService, and tracking can return to the store as the parcel moves.
A European carrier also adds its own rates to each order’s cost, which is worth folding into the margin calculation. An ROI test shows whether the volume justifies building it.