WESTON, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–DHL eCommerce, a division of the world’s leading logistics company Deutsche Post DHL Group, announced the expansion of its e-commerce order fulfillment service available for merchants in North America with the expansion of its fulfillment centers in Columbus and Riverside. As a result of growing demand, both existing U.S. facilities have recently significantly increased capacity with investments in storage and mechanization to support the growing needs from U.S. e-commerce players.
“The e-commerce market in the U.S. is estimated to have grown by 15.6% in 2016 with sales topping $531 billion1, and increasingly e-tailers are seeking fulfillment solutions to enable an omni-channel experience for end consumers,” said Lee Spratt, CEO DHL eCommerce Americas, “We see a huge demand from U.S. e-commerce players needing best-in-class e-commerce logistics solutions and we’re expanding our capabilities to support these growing demands. Besides doubling our existing U.S. fulfillment centers in Columbus and Riverside and enhancing them with greater automation, we also plan to add an additional center in New Jersey.”
The U.S. expansion is in line with the DHL eCommerce July 2016 announcement of a $137 million investment to expand infrastructure and capabilities to expand the company’s leading role in e-commerce logistics and to serve U.S. customers with the best solutions amidst the booming e-commerce industry.
The DHL eCommerce fulfillment centers, operated in conjunction with DHL Supply Chain, are located near major urban centers allowing merchants to position their inventory closer to their customers, improving their time to market while reducing shipping costs. The solution is targeted to retailers shipping between 300 and 15,000 orders per day, and supports both B2C and B2B transactions. The facilities are engineered as shared-use fulfillment centers, allowing customers to share space and assets within the warehouse. Customers are charged only for the transactions they have within the warehouse with fees for receiving, storage, and outbound pick and pack. Given the volatile and seasonal nature of e-commerce, removing the fixed cost burden is a huge relief for retailers.
Key to the solution is an order management system operated by IBM Sterling which provides fast customer integration, seamless access and visibility to the network, and allows customers to optimize the placement of inventory and orchestrate orders across the facilities.
“Today’s market is placing aggressive demands on the retailer to provide fast fulfillment and delivery, and doing so without increasing costs. This is a challenge for most because of the required capital and complexity. We’ve built a platform that provides seamless access to a network of fulfillment centers and is closely integrated with our shipping capabilities to allow our customers to meet two to three day requirements in a much more economical fashion,” said Craig Morris, VP Strategy & Product Management, DHL eCommerce Americas.
EHPlabs, a leading fitness and nutritional supplement brand, has experienced these benefits since joining the network in early 2015. “DHL eCommerce has gone above and beyond to support our business, particularly with the level of fast growth and innovation at our company,” said Julie McConnell, Head of Customer Experience & Online Sales, EHPlabs. “As a 100 percent dedicated e-commerce company, having a partner that can support our business from the moment a customer places an order to the moment it is delivered to their door is critical to our success. Their commitment to our business helps us provide exceptional service and support to customers in over 125 countries.”
Note to Editors:
The fulfillment solution provides all the value-added services and industry leading service levels that customers need, including:
Standard integrations with commonly used e-commerce platforms and marketplaces, as well as more customized integrations to existing systems
Fully published API that supports order creation, order status, inventory, and purchase order transactions
“Plug and Play” system that allows retailers to scale globally, quickly and easily within the U.S., the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific.
Inventory visibility and order orchestration across the entire global network of facilities
Omni-channel support which includes the ability to interface and orchestrate orders with external inventory locations, including drop-ship vendors, existing customer facilities, or even store networks
Best in class warehouse service levels including 24hr inventory put-away, and late cut-off times for same day dispatch to delivery partners
A variety of domestic and international shipping service levels
Transactional “pay as you go” pricing
To learn more about DHL eCommerce and e-commerce order fulfillment solutions, visit https://www.logistics.dhl/us-en/ecommerce/fulfillment.html.
DHL – The logistics company for the world
DHL is the leading global brand in the logistics industry. Our DHL family of divisions offer an unrivalled portfolio of logistics services ranging from national and international parcel delivery, e-commerce shipping and fulfillment solutions, international express, road, air and ocean transport to industrial supply chain management. With about 350,000 employees in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide, DHL connects people and businesses securely and reliably, enabling global trade flows. With specialized solutions for growth markets and industries including technology, life sciences and healthcare, energy, automotive and retail, a proven commitment to corporate responsibility and an unrivalled presence in developing markets, DHL is decisively positioned as “The logistics company for the world”.
DHL is part of Deutsche Post DHL Group. The Group generated revenues of more than 57 billion euros in 2016.