The owner of fast fashion brand Zara has seen profits return in the second quarter as active management of inventory cushioned it against a decline in sales. Spain’s Inditex reported a second-quarter net profit of €214 million, despite net sales falling 31% to €4.7 billion across the three months to (more…)
Furniture retailer IKEA is giving returned products a new life with a dedicated second-hand store in Sweden. The first store of its kind, in Eskilstuna, will sell repaired furniture at a lower price when it opens later this year. The new store is a pilot, with the ideas potentially expanded (more…)
DPD has opened a new distribution centre in Germany, which will eventually add 20,000 parcels per day to its capacity in the area. Located close to the motorway in Mannheim, south-western Germany, the €10 million depot includes 5000 square metres of processing space. The site will employ around 180 employees, (more…)
Uber has sold its European freight business to a German company. Berlin-headquartered sennder will take over the European operations of Uber Freight, an app which pairs available carriers with shippers. sennder’s existing solution connects large enterprise companies with small trucking firms. This year has seen the company merge with its (more…)
French supermarket Carrefour is enhancing its ecommerce offering with a new distribution centre and capabilities enabled by advanced data analytics. The grocer is set to open a new fulfilment centre in Belgium, enabled by technology from Food-X Technologies, which will be able to serve both click and collect and home (more…)
FedEx has developed a new sensor which can be used to track packages in real time as they move through a logistics network. SenseAware ID uses a small, light sensor which transmits precise location data every two seconds to nearby access points using Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity. This means each (more…)
Discount supermarket Aldi is trialling a click and collect service in one of its stores as it seeks to tap into the boom in online shopping. Currently available only to Aldi staff, the trial is running from a store in the Midlands. The shopper places an order from the store’s (more…)
Yodel is building a new distribution centre in northern England as it looks to meet growing demand for online retail. The carrier said no “final decision” had been taken on the location of the new site, which will take over the functions of the existing hub in Shaw over a (more…)
Scandinavian home furnishings retailer JYSK is building a new highly automated distribution centre to service customers in south-eastern Europe. The 143,000 square metre site in Hungary, costing €200 million, will serve stores and customers in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia. Set up by supply chain (more…)
Royal Mail saw parcel volumes rise 34% in the five months to the end of August, but found revenue growth hampered by the costs of transitioning its business from letters. The UK incumbent shipped an additional 177 million parcels in the period, pushing total revenues up £139 million as the (more…)
Metapack has integrated a last mile orchestration platform in order to boost its same-day delivery capabilities. Stuart’s “Stuart Today” service, which offers hubs in London and Paris for last-mile urban deliveries, will now be available via Metapack’s delivery management platform. Retailers using the service will be able to offer it (more…)
DHL has taken on two new UK distribution centres as it looks to scale up its ecommerce offering in the country. The parcel carrier has taken on sites in Yorkshire and Hampshire, adding more than 160,000 square feet in space. This week (8 September) the carrier took on a 78,458 (more…)
UK convenience retailer Co-op has teamed up with a start-up to offer fast, sustainable grocery deliveries in London. Over 500 products will be sold through Pinga, an app which uses foot, electric scooters or bicycles to deliver orders in 90 minutes or less. Co-op has been working with partners to (more…)
Moonpig is now offering branded delivery notifications after expanding its contract with Royal Mail. The new expanded contract sees Royal Mail delivering all gifts for the retailer except for flowers. The postal giant has delivered cards for Moonpig since the company was founded in 2000. The service also includes later (more…)
Waitrose has teamed up with Deliveroo to enable 30 minute deliveries as it parts ways with Ocado, which has apologised after some customers saw delays and cancellations of their orders. The 12-week trial will offer 500,000 households the opportunity to have orders delivered via the Deliveroo app and website, with (more…)
DHL is amongst the logistics companies deploying a new self-driving truck in its fleet. DHL and other 3PLs Ryder and NFI have collectively reserved 1000 trucks from automation company Ike. The 3PLs will buy trucks from manufacturers which are fitted with Ike’s automation software, as well as sensors and mechanical (more…)
Two European retailers, Pets at Home and Rewe, are planning new comprehensive distribution centres. Stoford Developments, which is leasing Pets at Home’s new 670,000 square foot Staffordshire warehouse, has begun a public consultation with local residents and stakeholders. The consultation will inform Pets at Home’s proposals to Stafford Borough Council (more…)
Swiss Post has acquired a courier start-up as it looks to expand its same-day delivery offering. The carrier has paid an undisclosed amount for notime, which uses optimised route planning to deliver goods via bicycle or electric scooters. The companies will look to combine their same-day offerings, with Swiss Post (more…)
Amazon is adding 1800 new electric vehicles to its European delivery fleet as it seeks to meet its climate goals. The vehicles come from carmaker Mercedes-Benz, which has just joined Amazon in pledging to reach net zero carbon by 2040. The ecommerce giant will use the vehicles to make deliveries (more…)
Tesco is recruiting for 16,000 new permanent roles, including warehouse staff and drivers, to support its online business. The UK supermarket plans to hire 10,000 order pickers and 3,000 delivery drivers, with the remainder of the roles supporting stores and distribution centres. Most of the roles will be recruited from (more…)