Logistics

Swedish Logent Group has signed an agreement for a majority stake in Misi. The acquisition of this Dutch fulfilment company is expected to be completed next month. It is unknown how much money Logent paid for the majority stake.

Ocado has returned to profitability on a group level. The British online supermarket and solutions provider reported a gross profit (EBITDA) of 16.6 million pounds for the first half of this year. According to CEO Tim Steiner, Ocado demonstrates 'the potential for our international ambitions'.

Amazon wants to open a distribution centre in the Netherlands of 100,000 square metres. The ecommerce giant has been operating there since 2015 and has a Dutch online store since 2020. Currently, it delivers most orders from a delivery centre at Schiphol Airport, while its products come from Germany.

Today, Sendcloud announced the acquisition of data platform Tracey. The acquisition allows Sendcloud to offer new data tools, such as AI-driven delivery predictions and near-real-time package monitoring. In this way, the shipping platform aims to offer the best customer experience.

Over the next three years, ecommerce giant Amazon will hire more than 5,000 refugees in Europe. It pledged to do that, together with over 40 companies. Together, they will hire, train or connect to work a total of 250,000 refugees. At least 13,680 of them will get jobs directly in the 40 companies.

The courier, express, and parcel sector in Germany, known as KEP for short, faced turbulent times in 2022. There were 360 million fewer packages delivered than in the peak year of 2021. This translates to a 7.9 percent decline in package volume in Germany.

Global fulfillment platform ShipBob is expanding to the Netherlands with the launch of a fulfillment center. The new fulfillment center is the company’s fifth European location. The company expects to start shipping parcels from the new location in July.

German fulfillment company for DTC ecommerce brands, Alaiko, is launching in the United Kingdom. With its solution, the company wants to help British brands scale domestically and across Europe. In order to do so, they are partnering with a local state-of-the-art fulfillment center.

Romanian ecommerce fulfillment provider Helpship has been acquired by euShipments, a Bulgarian logistics company for online sellers. Thanks to the acquisition, euShipments can strengthen its presence in the Romanian market.

Online retailers in Switzerland are facing a shortage of suitable logistics locations within the country. They are outsourcing warehousing or seeking solutions across the border, according to the Swiss Handelszeitung.

German consumers will soon be able to place unpackaged returns for Amazon in DHL parcel lockers. Amazon and DHL have been working together on unpackaged returns since October 2022. Now, the service is being expanded.

Ecommerce giant Amazon is implementing artificial intelligence in twelve warehouses. The technology will screen items for damage before being shipped. This will reduce the amount of damaged items sent out and speed up picking and packing.

While other flash delivery companies are downsizing or merging, Wolt is expanding its coverage area. With its launch in Vienna and Reykjavik, the Finnish company is now active in 25 countries, almost all of them in Europe. Wolt delivers orders for both restaurants and retailers.

The Otto Group is partnering with Covariant, a company specializing in AI-driven warehouse robots. With the partnership, Otto wants to automate its fulfilment activities and increase its operational efficiency. Otto's German fulfilment locations will be robotized first.

From now on, fashion e-tailer About You only offers free shipping with a minimum order amount of 30 euros. Customers with smaller orders will have to pay 4,90 euros delivery costs. The new fees are already in effect in Germany, but will eventually be introduced in all markets.