La Poste drives e-commerce business with fulfillment unit
La Poste Group is taking over a company that specialises in setting up and hosting e-commerce websites to encourage retailers to move into online shopping. The French postal service said it will add Mixcommerce, a company based in the Paris suburbs, to a new business unit it is creating dedicated to outsourced e-commerce services for retailers.
The unit will incorporate La Poste’s existing ecommerce solution, called Box E-Commerce, aiming to become a preferred provider of online sales activities for brick and mortar merchants and retail brands.
La Poste said its offering would bring in expertise on the entire ecommerce value chain for all types of Internet-based shopping, catering for any retailer, from small independent merchants to large brands.
Services include developing websites, managing sales and inventory as well as fulfilment activities – picking, packing and delivery.
Mixcommerce
Mixcommerce was established in 2007 as an “end-to-end” ecommerce facilitor, running everything from the creation of websites, running product photoshoots, arranging merchandising, marketing and logistics as well as providing customer service.
Among its clients are brands including Kookai, Axara, Eres, Celio, Alain Figaret, Eagle, De Fursac, Reminiscence and Annick Goutal.
Mixcommerce saw its sales growing by 50% in the first quarter of 2012, while e-commerce trade as a whole grew by 20% in 2011 according to the French postal service, but while the company does not publish financial results, it has gone on record to state it is “close to breaking even”.
La Poste said the firm’s acquisition would reinforce and accelerate its position as a preferred partner for e-commerce retailers, while developing a sector of the delivery business currently experiencing strong growth.
Philip Rodriguez, President of Mixcommerce, said: “This agreement will accelerate the development of Mixcommerce and strengthen our leadership position in the electronic commerce market. Thanks to the trust and capital of La Poste Group and its expertise in marketing and promotional relationships, we will increase our chances of being selected by the brands and to be the guarantors of success for their online development.”
