DHL eCommerce plans to acquire 100% of APM Solutions, the joint venture it started in Poland with Alibaba’s logistics arm, Cainiao, in 2023 to create an extensive parcel locker network, company CEO Pablo Ciano said in a LinkedIn post last week.
With full ownership, DHL eCommerce will accelerate the roll out of its branded parcel lockers, targeting 10,000 units in Poland by the end of 2026, he said. APM Solutions currently has more than 6,000 parcel lockers, according to its website.
“This transaction is a milestone in expanding the logistics ecosystem in Poland, giving merchants and consumers more choice, convenience, and flexibility in how they send and receive parcels,” Ciano said.
Poland is one of the fastest growing e-commerce markets in Europe. DHL eCommerce is complementing its door delivery options with more options in a country where up to 40% of consumers prefer to have shipments delivered to a parcel vending machine.
The move also gives DHL eCommerce, which provides cross-border and domestic B2C shipping service for e-commerce merchants, more infrastructure with which to compete with InPost, the dominant courier in its home market of Poland.
Over the past three years, DHL has invested an average of $275 million in Poland for its e-commerce, express, supply chain and freight forwarding business units.
DHL Group’s e-commerce logistics business in early 2023 purchased an equity stake in Cainiao’s Polish subsidiary to capture a larger share of the out-of-home delivery market. The companies initially invested nearly $70 million to install parcel lockers across Poland with the goal of forming one of the country’s largest access point networks.
DHL’s e-commerce logistics business continues to expand in Europe and the Middle East. In late August, the company acquired a share of Saudi Arabian courier Apex Logistics. InPost, too, is in rapid expansion mode, buying Spain-based courier Sending and Yodel, a large delivery company in the United Kingdom.
Write to Eric Kulisch at ekulisch@freightwaves.com.
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