DHL Supply Chain announced the acquisition of North Carolina-based Inmar Supply Chain Solutions, a division of Inmar Intelligence and a returns solutions provider for the retail ecommerce industry.

Financial terms of the purchase were not disclosed. In its press release, DHL claims the acquisition will make it the largest provider of reverse logistics solutions in North America.

Why DHL Supply Chain is acquiring Inmar Supply Chain Solutions

The move positions DHL to be an even bigger player in the ecommerce sector. According to the company, the acquisition of Inmar brings 14 return centers and around 800 employees into the DHL fold. DHL already has over 520 warehouses and more than 50,000 workers.

Additionally, the press release states that DHL Supply Chain will expand its returns capabilities to include product remarketing, recall management and supply chain performance analytics. Meanwhile, Inmar Intelligence will retain its pharmaceutical reverse distribution business.

According to the National Retail Federation, returns of online products stand at 17.6%, higher than the 10% of items returned that are bought in physical stores. Because of this, analysts say the deal puts DHL in a good position.

Outlook for DHL post-acquisition

Doug Ladden, co-founder and CEO of Deliveright, a logistics and supply chain company specializing in last-mile delivery, said the acquisition was good for both companies.

“DHL’s acquisition of Inmar Supply Chain Solutions will strengthen its position in the U.S. logistics market by addressing the massive pain point of customer returns,” Ladden explained.

He added that it will also pressure competitors to adapt by investing in their own returns capabilities or exploring partnerships to remain relevant in the sector.

In the meantime, Ladden noted that Inmar will get to deploy its technology across a massive operation that would have been expensive to build on its own.

“Both companies will offer their respective customers a more comprehensive suite of services,” he said.

Integrating advanced technology and data-driven solutions into returns processes will improve DHL’s asset utilization and efficiency.

What the DHL acquisition means for reverse logistics

“Reverse logistics is very difficult to do well,” Ladden stated. “DHL and Inmar believe combining approaches will likely be more successful than just doing it alone.”

Tinglong Dai, a global supply chain specialist and professor at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, agrees that the move makes sense.

“DHL’s move to buy Inmar seems smart and logical,” he told Digital Commerce 360 over email. “It’s a good example of vertical integration in the reverse supply chain management.”

Dai expects that by bringing returns processing in house, DHL will get more control over a key part of the process.

“Returns can be costly and messy for retailers, but Inmar’s expertise will help DHL make it smoother and cheaper,” Dai explained.

He noted that the acquisition of Inmar puts DHL in a great spot to handle the rise in returns from ecommerce.

“If DHL uses Inmar’s tech and data right, they’ll have a big edge over competitors, who will need to catch up,” Dai said.

Moreover, he anticipates the acquisition will give DHL a more muscular presence in the USA.

“The deal should help DHL grab more of the U.S. market,” he stated. “They’re at ~20% now vs. UPS/FedEx’s bigger share, but much more significant than other small/regional players,” Dai said.

He assessed that FedEx and UPS have made similar moves. For instance, UPS bought Happy Returns (for no-box, no-label returns) in 2023.

Why returns are challenging

Sina Golara, assistant professor at Georgia State University’s Robinson College of Business, explained why returns vex retailers.

“They are notoriously difficult because they are low-density — meaning they are a fraction of what consumers buy — and setting up a whole supply chain for the return side is not economically efficient unless a company can reach a large enough scale,” Golara said. “Essentially, you are asking a supply chain that is designed to deliver things to customers to operate in reverse, which it often cannot do efficiently.”

Golora adds that returns require unique attention, sorting and specialized processing to determine the appropriate actions for the returned merchandise, different packaging and safety considerations, and different routing.

As complex as returns are, though, combining two companies is also complex. Thus, Mike Klage, vice president at NTG Supply Chain Solutions, cautions to not expect the acquisition to yield immediate results.

“It’s important to note that integrating new capabilities into existing operations takes time,” Klage stated. “The real impact — both for the companies involved and their customers — often comes gradually as systems, processes and teams get in sync.”

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