Logistics

The number of returns in Europe this year has increased by 8 percent compared to the same period last year. At the same time, free shipping has shown a 3 percent rise and goods purchased using a short-term promotion grew 29 percent.

Zalando is slowly ending its free delivery service in Europe. It started last November in Italy and now more and more markets are starting to ask for a delivery fee. Latest markets to be hit by this decision are Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland.

Online retailer VidaXL has started the realization of its second distribution center. Just like the first one, this building will go up in Venlo, in the southern part of the Netherlands, near Germany. The new dc, which will measure 80,000 square meters, is set to open in March 2020.

An Post, the state-owned postal company of Ireland, has reported a jump in revenue last year. The company's sales increased by almost 7 percent to 897 million euros. Although there was a predictable decline in its traditional mail business, the company's parcel volumes grew further.

Last year, project planning company Smart City Loop entered the market to revolutionize transport on the 'last mile'. And now real estate developer Four Parx has commissioned Smart City Loop to carry out a feasibility study in Hamburg, to see if parcels could be delivered underground in the near future.

Last year, about 280 million parcels in Germany returned to the online stores that shipped them. In total, there were 487 million items that went from online store to shopper and from shopper back to the online store.

Zalando is introducing shipping costs in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain. The German fashion giant has taken this step after an earlier test in Italy. Although Zalando claims there are no plans to further expand this measure, it seems like the end of an era.

Parcel delivery group DPD has partners with Electric Assisted Vehicles (EAV) to develop a lightweight four-wheel e-cargo bike. With these bikes, DPD will start delivering parcels to consumers in July later this year.

The largest online retailers in the United Kingdom aren't so keen on communicating with shoppers during the delivery period. As a matter of fact, only four of the 100 largest online retailers in the country provide customers with personalized information about their order status, while 27 don't communicate at all during delivery.

H&M is the latest major fashion retailer that's changing its free delivery policy. The Swedish clothing company is now asking for a delivery fee for loyalty club members. This only applies to small online orders, but still, it's another sign of what's to come in European ecommerce.

The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport has compiled a list with the top 30 logistics and service providers in the United Kingdom. Spoiler alert: DPD Group is the number one. But who are the other top logistics companies?

Asos is done with online shoppers who turn out to be serial returners. The UK fashion retailer doesn't want customers who wear their purchases and then return them, or customers who order and return way more items than 'the most loyal Asos customer' would order'. Asos is now threatening to deactivate these accounts.

Correos, the national postal service of Spain, is teaming up with ecommerce giant AliExpress and Alibaba's logistics data platform operator Cainiao Network. The companies want to better support small and medium-sized enterprises in Spain to grow into new markets, such as China.

The Delivery Group announced it has acquired independent postal management provider Onepost. It's unknown how much the UK postal and ecommerce operator paid for Onepost, but it will bring together two major players in the British mail and ecommerce sector.

Dutch supermarket Albert Heijn has revealed a sneak preview of its latest innovation. The company is working on delivery robots. During this summer, the little robot cars will deliver groceries to customers on the High Tech Campus Eindhoven, home to more than 140 tech companies and institutions.