GEODIS, a global leading transport and logistics provider, continues its growth in servicing booming eCommerce retail channels across the world with an investment in a dedicated 55,000m² new warehouse space at Torija in the Province of Guadalajara, Spain.
This is the first such investment of GEODIS in the country, being in part a response to a national growth rate in eCommerce sales of 17% last year, which drove the total value of the market to US$27 billion (Euros24.3 billion). Located just one hour from the center of Madrid on the main highway to the industrial city of Zaragoza, the 110,000m² site boasts a warehouse with a capacity of circa 50,000 pallets and 55 loading bays; direct employment for 150 will be generated.
“Undoubtedly the logistics challenges of servicing a fast-growing and at times unpredictable sector such as eCommerce requires flexibility in designing and implementing traffic flows as well as skilled and motivated manpower,” says David Pele, Country Operations Manager for the Contract Logistics line of business of GEODIS in Spain. “These considerations were paramount in our choice of location in a region where logistics skill-sets are well established within the local workforce. Fast efficient transport links to Spanish retail consumers and international road, rail and air links were also factors.”
While GEODIS has a presence in Spain at sites in Palencia and Burgos providing contract logistics services, the Torija facility will be a turnkey project for its supply chain management offering specifically tailored to an eCommerce retailer. The Company’s innovative IT solutions that increasingly enable eCommerce customers to grow their businesses rapidly and reliably across the globe will now be brought to bear in the Spanish market.
“ECommerce as a retail channel had 58% market penetration in 2021, meaning over half of Spaniards bought at least one product online last year. A maturing market such as this is regarded as both stable and one of potential steady and consistent growth as long as customer experience standards are maintained by retailers,” points out Iván Sánchez Intxaurbe, Managing Director in Spain. “It is these very attributes of guaranteed high service standards and a persistent drive for continual improvement that we believe marks out GEODIS. We expect Torija to be the first of a number of eCommerce fulfilment centers within our future Spanish operations.”
