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~ Coffee Corner ~

offee or tea? When and how? Can you name three things that a European e-com-
A strong espresso in the morning and evening for me, merce owner can do to prevent logistic issues in the
Cand during the daytime, a cappuccino with a lump of current market?
sugar. Sure, in random order:
• Optimize their IT for a multicarrier approach so they
Can you tell us a bit about Active Ants and yourself? have the possibility to change carriers in case of need
Active Ants started their fulfilment business in 2010. After (peak season, pandemic, etc)
five years, the founders Jeroen Dekker and Jean Lahaye had a • Offer multiple shipping options, so beside home delivery
dream about a fully automated fulfilment site run by robots. also pugo, locker, sameday and “green” delivery.
Now 12 years later, we have 5 fully automated e-fulfilment • Manage the expectations on the delivery promise to
sites that are located in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany their customers.
and the UK. A highly sustainable multi-warehouse
What about ultra fast delivery,, the 10-minute deliv-
Myself, I’ve been in logistics for more than 16 years and ery that is popping up in cities around Europe, would
worked at multiple parcel carriers in different roles, and that be truly profitable or viable for an entrepreneur?
I was kind of ready for a new challenge other than parcel Interesting questions mainly since I’m a member of the expert
distribution, so I switched over to Active Ants e-fulfilment, group “Instant Commerce: Impact on E-commerce Business
which is quite a new challenge. Your counterparts are the Models 2022” of Shopping Tomorrow. I do not think I can
same, but the subjects to talk about are totally different but answer this question with only yes or no. The fact that this
very interesting. would be interesting for an entrepreneur really depends on
the kind of products, their customers’ needs (at that specific
What kind of fulfilment solutions does Active Ants time) and the fact if this fits in your operational process. For
offer? instance, when I order some new shirts, it isn’t a problem for
We offer our customers a fully automated fulfilment solution. me to wait 1-2 days to get it delivered. But when I have a
By atomising our complete process from picking to sorting, very important presentation ahead in the office and an hour
we can provide the best quality for the best available on the before I spilled a lot of coffee over my shirt, I really would
market with the highest efficiency for webshops with 500 like to have the option for an ultrafast delivery!
monthly shipments or more. Our centralised location in
Europe makes us the perfect partner if you want to grow your Ultrafast delivery is an upcoming trend and I believe it could
sales internationally. Every big e-commerce market, the UK, work in a curtain areas around store locations based on at
Germany & France, is within a day’s reach. Not only that, our least the following points:
extensive international carrier network makes sure your orders • There should be a store location nearby
will reach every destination worldwide without any problems. • Products can be picked and packed instantly
• You need own delivery guys (or a really good
How are these fulfilment solutions able to help retailers/ partner)
brands improve their success selling online and cross- • You need a good stock management in your online
border? store vs actual volumes in nearby stores
Our fulfilment solutions will help our customers to increase • You need at least 4 to 5 deliveries per round (also
their conversion by offering longer ordering hours. They can depending on the cost you ask for the ultrafast
offer domestic solutions, which result in shorter transit times, delivery)
and because of our basket picture and full-colour packaging • And many more
printing solution, we can still give their orders a personal
touch so it will leave an impression on their customers. So again, is there just “one” answer to this question, I think not.••

Could you tell us about some of the latest trends
within e-fulfilment and how they affect retailers/
brands?
The latest trend I see in the market is the need for capacity.
Our customers are looking for a partner who can grow locally
but is just as important cross-border. They look for fulfilment
partners who can handle their growth, so they need to expand
quickly. All Active Ants’ fulfilment sites are built in such a
way that we always have the space to expand the autostore
and bins. This will help them to keep their focus on finding,
marketing and selling their existing and new products.

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