French postal operator La Poste has acquired Morin Logistic, a domestic provider of e-logisticssolutions, to expand its e-commerce activities following the acquisition of French e-commerce
specialist Orium half a year ago.Founded in 1954, Morin Logistic has established itself as one of the leaders in e-logistics onthe French market with turnover of €45 million and a 30% increase in 2011. It employs 450 staff andoperates five secure warehouses near Lyon and Montpellier. Among its customers are e-commerce pureplayers (start-ups and international leaders) and B2B customers profiting from its complete rangeof value-added services.
La Poste claimed that with this move it has become the leader in e-commerce logistics in Francewith the aim to cover the entire value chain of e-commerce as the partner of choice for retailersand brands, regardless of their size.
This latest acquisition further extends the e-commerce offering of La Poste’s logistics holdingcompany Viapost which now comprises Morin Logistic, Orium and Neolog. Orium, acquired lastSeptember, has 200 staff and revenues of some €20 million. Neolog, La Poste’s original e-logisticsbusiness, offers a wide range of services for e-tailers, retailers and brands with over 5,000 dailydeliveries and a turnover of €307 million in 2011.
With 23 logistics centres, Viapost can respond to all the needs of e-commerce players in Franceand Europe, including pure players wishing to outsource all or parts of their flows for furthergrowth. In particular, Viapost provides unique multi-channel solutions for traditional playersrelated to orders via physical sales points and orders from internet customers.
In concrete terms, La Poste’s range of e-commerce services now includes creating websites anddisplay windows for online retailers, development solutions for online and offline sales, paymentsolutions, inventory management and orders preparation, along with delivery services.
Stéphane Sentis, CEO of Morin Logistic, Orium and Neolog, commented: “Thanks to the extensivenetwork of La Poste Group and the recognised expertise of Morin Logistic, we can offer allbusinesses an even more complete and sophisticated range of solutions to meet their evolvingneeds.”
Prior to buying Orium and Morin Logistic, La Poste acquired the French e-commerce providerMixcommerce in April last year as it set up a dedicated new business unit for the growinge-commerce sector incorporating its e-commerce solution Box E-Commerce and the acquired serviceprovider.
