Leading French transport group Geodis has expanded its B2C parcels services through a strategicpartnership with pick-up point network Kiala but has abandoned plans to buy smaller B2B express
rival Tatex due to competition fears.Geodis said it has teamed up with Kiala, which offers parcel collection at 5,000 points inFrance, to strengthen its e-business services by offering an alternative to home deliveries throughits subsidiary France Express.
The “unmatched” alternative delivery service offers nationwide next-day express delivery beforemidday – and before 10 am for 16,000 localities – on six days a week through 5,000 local deliverypoints such as kiosks, newsagents, shops and small businesses. A comprehensive information systemhas also been set up, including e-mail or text alerts when the goods are shipped and also when theyare available for collection at the Kiala pick-up point, along with real-time online trackinginformation and proof of delivery.
According to Geodis figures, e-tailing in France generated turnover of €31 billion in 2010 andshipped 300 million parcels, up 24% on 2009. The turnover of B2C e-tailing in France totalled €18.1billion in 2010. Deliveries to pick-up points (known as ‘relays’ in France) account for about 20%of e-tailing and mail order deliveries and are the second favourite means of distribution amongstweb users, just behind home deliveries.
“Geodis and Kiala share the same customer-oriented culture, founded on a high quality ofservice. This is the reason why our partnership is quite natural. I am convinced that thiscombination of our respective strengths will offer our existing and future customers in France andin Europe a top-drawer service, ideally suited to all the players in the e-business sector,” saidBruno Mandrin, Director of the Geodis Groupage and Express Division.
Jean-Louis Demeulenaere, Deputy CEO of Geodis, added that “this strategic alliance with Kialademonstrates the capacity of Geodis, France’s leading distribution operator, to innovate in orderto meet its customer’s needs, and in particular the needs of leading players in the e-businesssector.” In addition to e-tailers and mail order specialists, customers in manufacturing have alsoshown an interest in this offering for their B2B deliveries to mobile workers such as techniciansand sales staff, Geodis noted.
Kiala also stands to benefit from the unparalleled quality and strength of the Geodis network,which picks up the Kiala parcels when leaving the depot, then transports them and delivers them tothe final relay. Geodis also takes care of returns.
With its network of 112 France Express branches, Geodis allows Kiala to offer its customers thehighest-quality relay delivery solution on the market. France Express delivers 13.8 millionshipments a year and is particularly active in a range of sectors, from healthcare and cosmetics,to high tech, telephony, textiles, automotive and wines and spirits.
Geodis and Kiala are also currently looking into new relay delivery offerings that will belaunched in the coming months.
“France represents an exception to the model that Kiala implements in Europe. From now on, ourFrench customers will be able to benefit from the advantages of a model based on one of the verybest transport solutions on the market, plus a network that is directly controlled by Kiala, andtherefore fits in perfectly with the needs of our e-business and telecommunications clientele interms of the location and the type of the business used,” said Denis Payre, Kiala’s President andCEO.
Launched in 2001, Kiala is operational in Belgium, Spain, France, Holland and Luxembourg. Thenetwork currently totals more than 7,000 Kiala pick-up points, of which 5,000 are in France, andhandles up to 145,000 parcels every day. The company had turnover of €47.2 million in 2010, up 40%on 2009.
Meanwhile, Geodis has announced that it has abandoned its plan to acquire 100% of Tatex “giventhe position expressed by France’s competition authority on 21 June 2011”. Geodis told thecompetition authority on March 1, 2011 that it wanted to buy the smaller company, which has about1,000 employees and revenues of some €140 million.
But the authority announced a two-month “in-depth investigation” into the proposed deal, whichfollowed Geodis’ earlier acquisitions of Ciblex and Cooljet over the last two years. “The ‘Autoritéde la concurrence’ considers that the proposed operation raises serious concerns and requiresopening of an in-depth examination,” it stated. The authority wanted to review the deal’s impact oncompetition in the French B2B domestic express delivery sector.
The Geodis Groupage & Express division, including Geodis Calberson, Geodis Ciblex and FranceExpress, had revenues of about €1.8 billion in 2010, representing about 25% of the group’s overallrevenues of €6.6 billion. Geodis claims to have 25% of the French domestic express market byvolume.
