EUROPE LAST MILE DELIVERY MARKET

INTRODUCTION

The last mile of supply chain activities is referred to as last mile delivery. The travel of a product from a warehouse to the doorstep of the end-customer is referred to as the last mile delivery.

Smart firms are embracing current dynamic routing systems to assure rapid deliveries, higher profitability, and pleasurable delivery experiences.

Last mile delivery and logistics managers may follow their delivery executives and fleet in real time thanks to dynamic routing.

This is the most important phase in the delivery process, and firms want to guarantee that it is as quick and efficient as possible.

This is to meet the ever-increasing customer demand for fast shipment, particularly in the e-commerce, food, and retail industries. It is also the most expensive leg of the travel that commodities must take to reach their final destination.

The "last mile" of delivery is the final phase of the process — the point at which the item ultimately arrives at the buyer's door — in a product's trip from warehouse shelf to the back of a truck to a customer's doorstep.

Last mile delivery is both the most expensive and time-consuming aspect of the shipping process, in addition to being critical to customer satisfaction.

EUROPE LAST MILE DELIVERY MARKET DYNAMICS

Last mile logistics enables shippers to deliver more items to customers in a more timely and cost-effective manner, both of which are significant considerations in the e-commerce and omnichannel supply chain.

Consumers are prepared to pay a premium for superior last-mile delivery services, such as same-day or fast delivery.

Last-mile logistics is experiencing growing pains. Navigating traffic and parking laws in cities may be tough, and worldwide delivery issues may significantly boost last mile logistic expenses.

One of the most difficult difficulties is delivering things to customers at Amazon-like speeds, and more merchants are beginning to provide deliver-from-store last mile services.

Last Mile logistical efficiency is clearly a difficulty for enterprises involved in freight distribution and delivery due to its considerable, direct influence on operating margins, with the Last Mile accounting for up to 40% of overall package delivery costs.

Last Mile logistics is without a doubt a critical issue in European nations, given the evident influence it has on the difficulties of environmental sustainability, urban traffic congestion, and logistical efficiency.

By concentrating on last mile delivery options, merchants can give and ensure great service levels to their consumers while also adapting to the ever-changing omnichannel retail market.

Last mile delivery optimization may result in considerable savings for ecommerce organizations and merchants, particularly as the quantity of shipments across various sectors continues to rise.

Final-mile delivery companies have been coping with an increase in demand for their services while instituting health and safety procedures aimed to protect their personnel and customers as more people have been shopping from home during the coronavirus pandemic.

FedEx anticipates that the rise in e-commerce orders and shipments will continue. FedEx Ground continues to encounter considerable residential volume at peak-like levels. They are proactively taking efforts, similar to what they do during the peak season. Each of FedEx's operational companies has prepared business plans to accommodate this higher demand.

Online grocery buying had a rise after the outbreak. Amazon.com, a major online retailer, announced strong first-quarter revenues that were up from the same period last year. But the cost of satisfying such demand reduced revenues.

Amazon projects an even larger operating profit for the second quarter, but the company has warned investors that those funds will go toward preparing for the pandemic.

These are not typical situations, so they anticipate spending the entire sum—and possibly a little bit more—on COVID-related costs for delivering products to clients and safeguarding staff members.

Personal protective equipment, improved facility cleanliness, social distance strategies that work, greater hourly team salaries, and the expansion of Amazon's COVID-19 testing capabilities are all included in this initiative.

RECENT TECHNOLOGICAL TRENDS IN EUROPE LAST MILE DELIVERY MARKET

Technology is a major facilitator of ever-shortening delivery times, enabling for more efficient supply-chain procedures and the introduction of alternative delivery methods such as drones and droids.

Many car OEMs, for example, have been developing ideas that actively assist parcel drivers' work through the use of camera-based item monitoring and machine-learning software, automated vehicle loading systems, and advanced analytics-based driver applications.

New technologies and start-ups that improve (or perhaps redefine) logistical operations and customer communication channels to make them more efficient and user pleasant.

New communication channels, geolocation applications, time - series analysis, smart lockers, scooters, reusable packaging, mobility networks, electric cars and alternative fuels, drones, autonomous vehicles, and robotisation are among the technologies mentioned above.

Autonomous aircrafts, such as copters or vertically launched planes, transport items (up to 15 kg) along the most direct path and at a reasonably high average speed.

They, like droids and AGVs, require supervision. We feel one supervisor for every eight drones is a realistic expectation.

AGVs with lockers are autonomous ground vehicles (AGVs). AGVs distribute packages without the need for human interaction.

Customers are invited to pick up their item from the appropriate locker installed on the van or truck when they arrive at their door - think of it as a mobile parcel locker. Such cars, of course, would need to be overseen. We estimate that a central supervisor can control eight to ten AGVs.

Droids. Small autonomous cars, around the size of a conventional delivery, carry packages to people's doors. These cars go at a leisurely speed of 5 to 10 km/h and take the sidewalk rather than the roadway to their destination.

Such droids will also require supervision, but owing to their small size and slow pace, developers anticipate that a single supervisor could oversee 50 to 100 of them.

RECENT ACQUISITION IN EUROPE LAST MILE DELIVERY MARKET

Colis Privé, an Amazon-owned parcel delivery company that specialises in last-mile logistics in Europe, has acquired a majority share from CMA CGM. As it pursues its objective of enhancing end-to-end flow of goods within its controlled network, the carrier has signed a second e-commerce agreement in as many months.

According to the agreement between Colis Privé's parent firm Hobbs Group and the CEVA Logistics division of CMA CGM, CEVA will possess a majority of Colis with the possibility to increase its ownership stake in the future. One of Colis Privé's principal clients, Amazon, owns 10% of the company.

The transaction comes after CMA CGM's acquisition of Ingram Micro's commerce and lifecycle services division from the US-based contract logistics and e-commerce specialist. The US transaction quickens CEVA Logistics' growth in important market sectors like technology, retail, and apparel.

While Colis Privé's operations are now limited to France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Morocco, with operations in the Netherlands set to start soon, CMA CGM plans to expand outside of Europe.

Our goal is to expand Colis Privé internationally, beginning in Europe where the brand is already established, by utilising the global reach of our subsidiary CEVA Logistics.

In terms of our logistics activities' growth strategy, acquiring the majority of Colis Privé is a crucial step. They will be able to provide end-to-end logistics solutions to e-commerce clients for whom the final mile is a crucial step thanks to this operation.

With the majority stake, CEVA Logistics will have access to the more than 200 e-commerce enterprises in the Colis Privé customer portfolio, which includes, according to CMA CGM, global industry leaders.

EUROPE LAST MILE DELIVERY MARKET RECENT TRENDS

With a nearly $24 billion investment in its European last-mile logistics real-estate company, Blackstone Inc. is doubling down on its warehouse wager to guarantee same-day delivery of food and goods.

The transaction is the largest private real estate transaction ever made in history. It is also the biggest M&A deal involving private enterprises in Europe.

Blackstone officially formed Mileway to house the portfolio of urban warehouses and dark kitchens in and near populated areas owned by its European property funds. Typically, the Blackstone funds that hold Mileway would sell the company and distribute the proceeds to investors or list the company in an IPO to recoup their investment.

The alternative asset manager is instead selling the company to a fresh Blackstone fund whose investors want to keep exposure to the asset going indefinitely.

The demand for space near densely populated regions where online orders may be loaded onto trucks and vans or picked up by couriers for local delivery is driven by the trend toward e-commerce and food delivery, which was hastened by the Covid-19 outbreak. Near large cities, final-stage space is in short supply for retailers and restaurants.

Such space is becoming more valuable and in greater demand as more businesses commit to same-day deliveries or even two-hour arrivals.

EUROPE LAST MILE DELIVERY MARKETCOMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Technology adoption has expanded in recent days among Europe's last mile delivery enterprises as a result of more aligned prospects and policy implementation toward sustainable development and enhanced automation.

While driverless delivery may sound like science fiction, the Europe Last Mile Market is on the approach of seeing drones and self-driving vehicles (ADVs) become a reality.

Long-term, ADVs will most certainly function without human drivers, which will drastically reduce labour expenses, which currently account for around 60% of total delivery costs. Through a cooperation with TuSimple, UPS has been using ADVs to carry freight for over a year.

Plus.ai evaluated its perishable freight towing capabilities in collaboration with last mile delivery infrastructure businesses in Europe's Last Mile Market.

Plus.ai accomplished a Level 4 cross-country run while towing a fully loaded trailer with perishable items. The truck was outfitted with an autonomous driving system that makes use of sensors, visual algorithms, and SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) technology.