Belgian Post Group (Bpost), the Belgian postal operator, announced Wednesday (May 30) that it is joining forces with DHL to provide eCommerce deliveries in the region of Benelux.
According to a report in Reuters, the move is aimed at enhancing Bpost’s position in deliveries of online purchases. The report noted that the partnership is non-exclusive and that cross-border deliveries are important, because many Belgium citizens use online stores that are located mainly in the Netherlands and Germany.
“Partnering with DHL enables them [Bpost] to better source from Germany, for instance, where DHL is strong, and perhaps even combined with DHL’s attempt to take some share back from PostNL,” said ING analyst Marc Zwartsenburg. He noted that Bpost has been facing fierce competition from the likes of PostNL in cross-border deliveries, largely due to PostNL’s relationships with popular online retailers in the Netherlands.
In October, Bpost announced it was buying Radial, formerly eBay Enterprise, for $820 million. The move made waves, because Radial is considered second only to Amazon when it comes to delivery fulfillment in the U.S. As of today, about 20 percent of all eCommerce orders that flow between the U.S. and the EU are handled by Radial.
“I’m very proud of this acquisition that represents a great leap forward for Bpost, promoting us as a leading player in the eCommerce logistics business in Benelux, Europe and throughout the world,” said Koen Van Gerven, CEO of Bpost, in a statement at the time. “I’m convinced that offering integrated and seamless eCommerce logistics solutions to our U.S. and European customers will help them grow their businesses. The expertise and capabilities of Radial employees are a unique complement to Bpost and will help us in becoming a leader in eCommerce logistics. I’m very happy to welcome all Radial employees to our Bpost family,” he continued.
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