Logistics

Fashion retailer Zara is testing its very first parcel machine in Germany. Customers can click and collect items at the company's flagship store in Hamburg. The machine has place for 700 parcels, but is only accessible during the store's opening hours.

Zalando is launching a pilot with reusable packaging. The test will run for four weeks and is aimed at customers in Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. During the pilot, 10,000 customers will receive their orders in reusable shipping bags, so the German fashion company can reduce the packaging waste.

Wish has a second distribution center in Europe. The online marketplace has one in Amsterdam. This dc is already in use since the end of last year, but it's only now that the ecommerce company has revealed it's running a distribution center in the Netherlands.

Enjoy, an ecommerce startup best described as an online mobile store, has raised about 135 million euros in Series C funding. With this money, the company wants to further expand in the United Kingdom and launch in new markets.

Online shoppers in the United Kingdom have left about 250 million euros worth of uncollected products at click-and-collect sites last year. This was due to long queues and understaffed collection points.

Zalando and Adidas have partnered up to run a multi-channel pilot in Paris. Customers who shop online at the French Adidas website can get their order on the same or next day, thanks to Zalando, which takes care of the delivery.

On average, parcels that are transported from Sweden to Finland take 5.6 days to reach their destination. Once the border is crossed, the average delivery time is 1.8 days.

More and more ecommerce customers in the Czech Republic are complaining about Czech Post. According to them, the state-owned company doesn't deliver goods at consumers' homes.

Lidl is testing a click & collect service in Germany. For now, the test is only meant for customers in the Rhine-Neckar region. They can order products online and then pick them up in a branch of the supermarket discounter.

Ecommerce is getting increasingly important for Dutch logistics company PostNL. During the first half of this year, 51 percent of its revenue was related to ecommerce. PostNL is focusing less on postal activities and more and more on the delivery of parcels. Selling Postcon is just the latest example of this trend.

Deutsche Post DHL Group and Austrian Post have agreed to work together in last-mile parcel delivery in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Austrian Post's subsidiary In Time will be Deutsche Posts's parcel delivery partner in Slovakia, while the latter's subsidiary PPL CZ will be Austrian Post's delivery partner in the Czech Republic.

Ozon, the biggest generalist online retailer of Russia, is working together with Russian footwear retailer Obuv Rossii. This allows Ozon to increase its regional network of pick-up points in the country, while Obuv Rossii can raise raise the number of visitors to its physical stores.

Carrefour will offer its customers a 30-minute delivery service. In France, Spain, Italy and Argentina consumers will get their groceries a lot faster than before. The service is the result of a partnership between Carrefour and Spanish startup Glovo.

German online fashion shop Mybudapester.com offers its customers from outside the European Union free delivery and returns. These customers also won't be charged extra for taxes, customs and freight surcharges on these international orders.

Zalando is testing same-evening delivery in Switzerland. The new service enables selected customers to receive their orders the same evening. Zalando is running the test with Swiss Post and Notime.