Logistics

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.

Spanish wholesale platform BigBuy has generated a turnover of 105 million euros in 2022. The company managed around 2 million orders in that same year. Additionally, it has increased its workforce by 20 percent.

Barcelona’s City Council aims for 40 percent of online purchases to be delivered to pick-up points instead of at home in 2023. To achieve this, Barcelona introduced an annual tax for logistics companies that offer home delivery.

Dutch fulfillment company Salesupply has opened a second location in Germany. The new center is fully automated, resulting in lower costs, a faster picking and packing process and more efficient storage. The growing demand for the business’ solutions required a new location in the country.

The logistics arm of Alibaba, Cainiao, is joining parcel carrier DHL in Poland. Both companies will invest 60 million euros in a parcel locker network. Through the partnership, Cainiao aims to grow its presence in Europe.

About You wants to introduce a minimum order value for free shipping in all of its markets this year. The German fashion platform is hoping to cut costs by having fewer orders with low values in the future. About You is currently testing the minimum order value in some of its markets.

Amazon plans to close three distribution centers in the United Kingdom, the company’s biggest market in Europe. After investing heavily during the pandemic ecommerce boom, the retail giant is experiencing a dip in demand.

German supermarket Lidl has opened its European distribution center in Roosendaal, in the Netherlands. Eventually, all of Lidl’s online orders in Europe will be fulfilled through this center. In order to do this, it will gradually expand its work force and inventory.

The Dutch branch of Instabox has been declared bankrupt. Instabox, known for its red parcel lockers, only recently declared to join forces with parcel deliverer Budbee under the name Instabee.