Dive Brief:
- Logistics provider Deutsche Post DHL Group plans to invest $137 million in U.S. e-commerce infrastructure and services through 2020, the company announced July 28.
- Since U.S. online merchants lead the global e-commerce market, DHL's eCommerce division plans to establish additional regional order fulfillment centers within the the country next year, including a new center in New Jersey.
- DHL aims to exploit the booming e-commerce market for cross-border shipments, which is expected to grow to roughly $1 trillion in global volume by 2020, up from today's $400 billion, according to a report by Alibaba and Accenture.
Dive Insight:
DHL eCommerce CEO Charles Brewer said in a press release that one billion people are expected to shop online and across borders by 2020, and the U.S. will remain the most popular origin point for 25% of consumers globally.
Meanwhile, emerging countries are expected to fuel nearly half of the cross-border, e-commerce market growth, followed by Western Europe.
"Research shows that consumers increasingly buy products online that are either unavailable or too expensive in their home country," the company stated, adding that many of these products are either available or expressly ordered from the United States.
For this reason, the company is expanding both its ecommerce and fulfillment operations in the region. A year ago, DHL Global Forwarding opened a $35 million distribution center in Chicago, and recently DHL Express added a $1.3 million service center in the Windy City to meet heavy e-commerce customer demand.
The logistics company operates a total of 20 distribution centers in North America—18 in the United States and one each in Toronto and Mexico City—including four international gateways. DHL eCommerce also expects to add more Latin American facilities next year.
