Calzedonia Group selects BEUMER Group’s pouch technology

BEUMER Group has put its pouch technology into operation with Italy’s Calzedonia Group, a major player in international fashion retail markets.

With the increase in e-commerce, the Italian fashion retailer, which owns several well-known fashion brands and operates more than 5,000 shops around the world, has seen a steady rise in its Direct to Consumer (DTC) business.

In particular, the company needed to optimise its despatch operations to account for this growth while increasing the level of efficiency and customer service, BEUMER explained.

The logistics site, originally designed for retail distribution only, had already been changed to an omnichannel warehouse. The challenge was to deal with the added pressures that rising e-commerce volumes place on an omnichannel system by adopting a flexible, automated system that would allow easy expansion of capacity.

More capacity in existing warehouse

Calzedonia chose a system based on BEUMER Group’s BG Pouch System™ technology; a solution to be designed to fit into the current premises, expanding the existing warehouse’s fulfilment capacity and returns handling, without needing to extend the footprint of the physical warehouse.

The BG Pouch System design allows an approx. 30% smaller footprint than conventional pouch technology systems and can be mounted in the ceiling, saving precious floor space. Additionally, the modular BG Pouch System design can also be scaled up quickly and easily as needed.

Using the pouch technology, Calzedonia Group has transformed its warehouse, optimising it for omnichannel operations while continuing to achieve high efficiency in handling and fulfilment.

Fluctuating return rates

Consumer behaviour also varies between countries, placing huge pressure on an e-commerce or omnichannel organisation. The pouch system features are designed to remove most of this pressure, while the modular design allows capacity to be increased to match rising sales. This is one of the many future proof features of the system.

“Return rates vary across Europe. Coming from Italian levels of 10-15% and expanding to handle as much as 50% in return rates can really put a strain on an otherwise effective organisation,” explained Salvador Oltra Gonzalez, General Manager, BEUMER Group Italy.