Tag: Courier/Express/Parcels

GSI acquires Zendor.com

Posted by | Jan 7, 2008 | |

US e-commerce provider GSI buys UK fulfilment and e-commerce vendor Zendor.com at knock-down price.

US E-commerce provider GSI Commerce has finalised its acquisition of Manchester-based provider of fulfilment, customer care and e-commerce solutions Zendor.com and now glories in the ridiculously long URL www.zendorgsicommerce.com.

With the acquisition, GSI grows its global e-commerce partner base to approximately 85. GSI will acquire Zendor.com for approximately USD 7.9 million in cash, about GBP 4 million in real money and a bargain considering the size of Zendor and the nature of its clients and it’s 2007 turnover of GBP 3.8 million.

Zendor.com was formed in 1999 as a subsidiary of parent company N Brown Group, a business with over 140 years experience in catalogue and shopping. Zendor’s client list before the sale included Woolworths, River Island and Early Learning Centre and the just announced deal with Peacocks.

Zendor operates two fulfilment centres with approximately 245,000 square feet of space and a brand new 50-seat customer care centre that opened in September of 2007 and it claimed at launch time that there was “capacity to reach 150-seats for Christmas peak trading should client growth and new business development meet company expectations.” In addition the company employs approximately 100 employees.

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Growth Fueled by Solid Performance of Freight and Logistics Products.

Posted by | Jan 7, 2008 | |

Aramex reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2007. Aramex revenues rose 25 pct to AED 451.7 million, climbing from AED 360.8 million for the same period last year.

Net profits for the third quarter of 2007 rose by 14 pct to AED 26.0 million, from AED 22.7 million for the same period last year, while net profits for the first nine months of 2007 increased by 31 pct to AED 89.4 million, from AED 68.5 million for the same period last year.

Aramex revenues for the first nine months of 2007 rose by 34 pct to AED 1,289 million from AED 961 million for the same period last year. These results include one time costs of AED 1.8 million of an investment write-off and tax expenses.

“We had solid double digit growth in all our products, especially our freight and logistics services. The gulf region continues to give us very solid results and we are witnessing consistent profitability from our Two-Way acquisition in Europe.” commented Fadi Ghandour, Founder & CEO of Aramex.

In addition to significant growth in freight and logistics, the company also demonstrated strong results in the growing document management sector through Infofort; Aramex’s document management arm and a market leader in the Middle East.

1 USD = 3.67320 AED

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FedEx to meet with IRS

Posted by | Jan 5, 2008 | |

FedEx will meet with the Internal Revenue Service audit team in the spring to discuss a tax assessment regarding the classification of owner-operators at FedEx Ground.

On Dec. 20, the IRS tentatively concluded that FedEx Ground’s pick-up-and-delivery owner-operators should be reclassified as employees for federal employment tax purposes. The IRS indicated that it anticipates assessing tax and penalties of USD 319 million plus interest for 2002. Similar issues are under audit by the IRS for calendar years 2004 through 2006.

FedEx said Dec. 21 that it would vigorously defend its position that the drivers are independent contractors. On Jan. 3, the carrier said it is preparing an initial response for a meeting with the audit team. The company said it expects final resolution to take a long time.

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Hermes Logistik eyes acquisition in Spain

Posted by | Jan 4, 2008 | |

Hermes Logistik is considering an acquisition in Spain and potentially elsewhere to strengthen its European B2C network, according to the company’s management.

Managing director Hanjo Schneider told the Deutsche Verkehrs-Zeitung (DVZ) that in Spain the Otto Group subsidiary was seeking “a solution in the next 12 – 18 months”. The Spanish B2C market is currently at an early stage of development, according to experts.

Hermes currently covers five countries, representing about 85 pct of the European B2C market, through its own network, Schneider said. The UK and France are served by Otto Group subsidiaries Parcelnet and Mondial Relay, while Hermes started operations in Austria in summer 2007.

In Italy, Hermes bought a 30 pct holding in Porta a Porta, which is majority-owned by Swiss Post, in October 2007. The Swiss postal group, however, might be prepared to split off the Italian company’s parcels distribution business, and sell it to Hermes completely, whilst retaining the mail and logistics activities, the DVZ reported.

Hermes currently uses partners to deliver to other European destinations. TNT covers the Benelux area, Swiss Post covers Switzerland, and DPD is used for all other markets.

French sister company Mondial Relay last year announced plans to expand into Belgium, Spain and Portugal, while British operator Parcelnet grew with the acquisition of the Redcats courier network last spring.

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Special Delivery: Bringing SMBs into the Global Shipping Network

Posted by | Jan 4, 2008 | |

“Each carrier has tools to make international shipping easier. DHL calls its ‘Trade Automation Services.’ UPS’ international tool is named ‘TradeAbility.’ FedEx has its Trade Network. You will have to register in order to access these tools, and some carriers charge a transaction fee for providing a service,” Mark Taylor, chief logistics officer at RedRoller.com told the E-Commerce Times.

The parcel carriers have been a huge factor driving the globalization of commerce, Taylor agreed.

“First, they see this as a high priority in their own growth and success,” he continued. “We can see this from some public statements from their CEOs. Mike Eskew, chairman and chief executive officer of United Parcel Service informs us, ‘Most of our 8 million daily customers at UPS are small businesses.

It turns out that small businesses make up 97 percent of all exporters and nearly 40 percent of exports’ total value, statistics pointed out by FedEx CEO Fred Smith, said Taylor.

“Second, international shipping is where their bread is buttered. Donald Broughton, an analyst who follows both UPS and FedEx for A.G. Edwards & Sons in St. Louis, tells us ‘Direct international is 23 percent of revenue for FedEx, but it’s the fastest growing part of their business, and it’s almost 20 percent for UPS. FedEx is the largest air freight carrier in Asia and UPS is neck-and-neck with DHL in Europe,'” he said.

UPS provides package delivery services to 21 of the top 25 e-tailers in the U.S. as ranked by Internet Retailer magazine, according to Donna Barrett, the company’s technology public relations manager. Tracking requests on UPS.com along average 15 million a day.

There have been more than 25,000 distinct integrations within the last 18 months of UPS Online Tools, which retailers can integrate into their Web sites, Barrett told the E-Commerce Times. These have enabled more than 748,000 individual users to access tracking, time-in-transit, rating and shipping information.

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