European e-logistics marketplace Deliver scores with hot topics and business deals

European e-logistics marketplace Deliver successfully established itself this year as a ‘must attend’ event for retailers, logistics suppliers and delivery companies to make new contacts, talk business and discuss hot topics after substantially increasing the number of exhibitors and participants.

About 750 decision-makers from 35 countries attended the two-day event at London’s Twickenham rugby stadium last week (June 5 – 6), 70% more than last year. Participants included 450 retailers from across Europe with collective logistics spending of several billion euros, 61 exhibitors ranging from big names such as DHL and DPDgroup to regional players, specialist logistics providers and start-ups, a diverse range of international speakers, and other industry stakeholders.

The “buzzing” exhibition space was packed throughout the two days as retailers and exhibitors held about 2,000 one-to-one meetings, while the conference keynote sessions and exhibitor workshops, including interactive retailer voting on key topics, were generally very well-attended.

Event founder and CEO Stéphane Tomczak told CEP-Research he was delighted at how the third Deliver event had gone. “We had a lot of very good feedback from exhibitors, partners and retailers. This year we really scaled up a lot in many ways and built up the platform,” he said. “There were 2,000 mostly pre-scheduled meetings between vendors and retailers,” he emphasised.

Looking ahead to next year, Tomczak said he aims to attract about 1,200 participants to Deliver 2019, which will take place in Lisbon on June 5-6. “We will step up again in terms of numbers. That would put us in the elite league of big events in Europe,” he declared. In particular, he hopes to secure more large vendors and also more big-name international speakers.

As already reported by CEP-Research, which was again a media partner, this year’s conference sessions mostly focused on ‘hot topics’ such as robotisation, self-driving vehicles and logistics technology, featuring a mix of entrepreneurs, experts and investors. This year’s five awards, based on retailer votes at the event, were all won by participating start-ups.

There was also a retail session in which consultant Mirko Warschun, Head of Retail EMEA for AT Kearney, presented forecasts on how the industry will change in the coming years due to the increasing importance of millennials, demographic changes, technology and other factors. Experienced retail entrepreneur Susanne Given, chairwoman of British firm Outfittery, and Shrenik Sadalgi, Head of Next Gen Experience at US furniture e-retailer Wayfair, discussed how technology will enhance the customer experience, bridging the gap between stores and e-commerce from product discovery to final delivery.

At a packed DHL Express workshop on cross-border e-commerce logistics, Leendert van Delft, VP Global Sales, emphasised to an audience of some 100 retailers that developed economies such as Europe and the USA along with China and emerging markets all represent strong business potential for the future. He underlined that cross-border sales tended to have higher basket values and lower return rates.

At a separate, full workshop, Christophe Saillard, DPDgroup’s head of sales, presented European e-commerce and delivery innovation trends, including online shopper wishes on topics such as same-day, evening and weekend deliveries.

* Tomczak was also optimistic about the progress of the ‘Deliver In Europe’ platform, which is designed to improve cross-border European e-commerce by bringing offers of smaller vendors to a wider audience of potential customers. Some 300, mostly smaller, vendors from 60 countries have now listed their cross-border delivery services on the platform, which was launched two years ago with EU funding. Several thousand visitors now use the website per month.

“It’s starting to gain traction,” Tomczak said. “We’re looking to get up to 500 vendors.” In particular, he also hopes to attract some larger logistics and delivery companies on to the platform. But he admitted that the platform is more likely to be used by SMEs, both on the vendor and retailer side. “It’s a good way for SME vendors to get noticed,” he said.