IKEA is going to deliver its customers in central Paris from an electrically powered barge. The ship acts as a sailing fulfilment centre and qualifies for around 30 per cent of IKEA orders.
The barge of urban distribution service Fludis shuttles between the inner port of Gennevilliers - where IKEA has a distribution centre - and four unloading points along the Seine. In the morning, the vessel is loaded with 7 tonnes of goods, accounting for crica 3,000 orders. While sailing, orders are prepared and loaded onto bicycles.
Thirty cargo bikes will depart from the four unloading points to seven arrondissements in Paris and to the recently opened city shop in La Madeleine. The cargo bikes can carry up to 250 kilograms.
Economically sustainable
According to Gilles Manuelle, initiator of Fludis, the urban distribution concept is not only environmentally sustainable, but also economically sustainable. Traffic jams in downtown Paris are avoided and companies do not have to pay sky-high rents for logistics real estate. "That makes us no more expensive than conventional distribution services," Manuelle told Gondola.
The founder of Fludis expects to expand quickly to other cities in France or the rest of Europe. Any city with a navigable river or canal would qualify for the concept.
