“We are delighted to expand our relationship with Zalando with this long-term commitment to manage the company’s customer fulfilment in France, in addition to their returns operations in France and Italy,” said Rui Marques, managing director of France, GXO. “Zalando is our largest project in France to date – in terms of scale, automation, technology and job creation – and we are excited to support Zalando’s growth.”

The 140,000-square metre multi-tiered site will be heavily automated and allow Zalando’s consumers to access millions of items across their assortment. GXO and Zalando have designed the facility with safety and employee wellbeing as top priorities, including air conditioning, break rooms, outdoor terraces, as well as a walkway for passage throughout and a shuttle system to facilitate movement within the warehouse, creating a more comfortable work environment, the company said in a press release.

“We are excited to expand our logistics footprint with a state-of-the-art fulfilment centre in France. Our French customers will benefit from reduced delivery times and we are happy to have GXO as our trusted partner on our side to achieve that. We are looking forward to GXO setting up a strong local team so that together, we can enhance the customer experience in France,” Laura Toledano, general manager France at Zalando, said.

The site, located about 50 kilometres southeast of Paris, will have robust sustainability components, aiming to earn an “Excellent” certification from BREEAM for the materials used in construction, waste management capabilities and water and energy consumption. Plans include visually integrating the site into its surroundings by following a landscaping concept that includes planting 80 mature trees up to 10 metres on the site. In addition, the building will be equipped with a rooftop photovoltaic array that will provide up to 50 per cent of the site’s electricity needs as well as energy-saving lighting, thermostats and timers.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RR)