Zalando is investing in new fulfilment centres in France and Poland to deliver parcels to customers' homes faster. The new centres near Paris and the Polish city of Szczecin, should reduce delivery times by one to two days.
As Zalando now serves consumers in 15 European countries, it was forced to open distribution centres outside Germany at the end of 2015. The etail giant now ships from three fulfilment centres in Germany and a centre in northern Italy, to which fulfilment centres in France and Poland will be added. The building near Paris will mainly serve customers in and around the city. The DC in Szcezin targets customers in Poland, Scandinavia and parts of Germany. According to Zalando, this DC will cover 130,000 square metres and should create around 1,000 jobs. "Over the past year, Zalando has added more than three million new customers," David Schroeder, senior vice president of Zalando explains the plans. "We need to position ourselves well internationally to meet the local needs of our growing customer base." In Italy, airtime decreased by a day and a half since the fulfilment centre opened. Some 60 per cent of Italian orders are processed here.
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Work is also currently underway on a fourth fulfilment centre in the German town of Lahr, which is intended to prepare orders for southern Germany, Switzerland and France. The building should be operational in autumn 2016. The distribution centre near Paris will be completed in 2017, followed by the DC in Poland.
Editorial LogisticsProfs
Image: Zalando's logistics centre in Erfurt, Germany
