In the fast-paced world of e-commerce fulfillment, having the right partner and the right technology can make all the difference for retailers looking to offer the quickest and smoothest delivery experience. Liz Morrell investigates
The speed of delivery has long been an intense battleground for e-commerce retailers, and same-day and faster shipping options continue to be important differentiators for enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty – particularly with expectations set by Amazon.
A new E-commerce Trends Report from DHL, published on June 4, 2025, shows that when asked about improvements they want to see, more than half (52%) of online buyers cited faster delivery, alongside free delivery, free returns, better product descriptions, customer reviews and images. “If delivery is neither fast nor free, we can expect frustrated customers,” says Ryan Hunter, chief commercial officer at DHL eCommerce.
Bo Chen, head of warehouse automation, logistics technology at Cainiao Group, believes the growing importance of delivery speed is a fundamental change. “Delivery speed has evolved from a ‘nice-to-have’ to a key driver of consumer choice,” he explains. “In e-commerce, logistics is no longer just a support function – it’s part of the product.” He points out that a package that arrives more quickly and smoothly creates trust, drives better reviews and increases the likelihood of repeat purchases.
According to Retail Economics’ Ecommerce Delivery Benchmark Report 2025, although fast, flexible delivery is crucial, it also needs to be affordable for both retailer and consumer. This means that efficiency through upgraded fulfillment systems is crucial, which can be both challenging and expensive – especially for small and medium-sized online retailers who might not be able to afford the sophisticated infrastructure they need.
Thus, 3PLs and other logistics partners such as posts are increasingly stepping in to manage the process. It’s big business – a new report, Global e-commerce logistics & e-fulfilment 2025 from TI Insight, says that the global e-commerce logistics market grew 13.6% year-on-year in 2024 to €521.9bn (US$587.3bn).
Enabling faster fulfillment
Advances in logistics technology and more efficient fulfillment processes mean that faster delivery is becoming increasingly feasible for e-commerce retailers. But it also requires such businesses to adapt their supply chains and leverage local warehouses or fulfillment centers to meet the growing demand.
Distributing and storing products across a network of warehouses and fulfillment centers means that retailers’ orders can be routed through the facility closest to the customer.
“By pre-positioning the goods right from their country of origin into local warehouses and fulfillment centers, we can significantly cut down on processes that typically take a long time, such as international transit and customs procedures,” comments Gan Heng, head of commercial at Singapore Post (SingPost).
“Having these local warehouses is a game-changer because it dramatically reduces the travel distance, and all the necessary customs clearance paperwork would have already been sorted out by the time orders arrive. What is left is to fulfill orders and get them out the door at lightning speed. This direct proximity and streamlined processing are what make those super-fast delivery goals, like same-day or next-day service, genuinely achievable and cost-effective,” he adds.
At Cainiao, Chen explains that centers such as these enable retailers to deliver next day to international customers. “For example, we work with a leading cross-border merchant in the bedding sector, but with Cainiao’s smart warehouse and localized warehouse capabilities, local customers can receive their orders as quickly as the next day,” he says.
DHL eCommerce’s Hunter believes such microdepots are even more powerful when aligned with the right data. “When combined with a digital and dynamic inventory management system that is linked to buying patterns and real-time data from your online shop, this can provide substantial benefits,” he asserts.
The role of automation
In addition to better distribution of product, automation is now a must-have to improve delivery efficiencies and speed. AI-powered route planning and smart order allocation systems are also important in the drive to reduce the time to deliver, according to Chen. “From robotic sorting in our hubs to algorithm-driven warehouse distribution, every second we save is a win for both merchants and consumers,” he says.
AI will play an increasingly central role in e-commerce fulfillment efficiency, Chen continues: “We see great opportunity in harnessing AI and data to redefine how e-commerce logistics operates. For example, in our warehouses AI helps to automate sorting, optimize inventory placement and even predict equipment maintenance needs. Image recognition technology is also improving how we classify and handle packages with greater precision.”
AI is helping to drive warehouse management efficiency too: “We’re also using AI to dynamically optimize warehouse layout and machine learning to forecast demand and restock precisely, reducing both out-of-stock risks and excess inventory.”
Alternative delivery options
Alternative out-of-home delivery options such as PUDO and lockers are also helping to accelerate the speed of e-commerce fulfillment, especially in urban and high-density areas where traditional home delivery can be challenging. They also overcome the risk of failed deliveries that can delay an order’s arrival.
“Lockers and parcel shops are very important for delivery economics and consumer convenience, and are highly utilized in countries such as China, and regions such as Eastern Europe and Scandinavia,” says Paul Chapman of TI Insight.
“These networks empower people with the flexibility to retrieve their packages at their convenience, even outside of traditional delivery hours, making the entire delivery process much more efficient and faster overall,” adds SingPost’s Heng.
In Hong Kong, Cainiao has one of the city’s largest last-mile networks. It comprises more than 1,000 self-pickup points and lockers, meaning the company has effectively created 300m pickup zones in which customers are only a few minutes away from collecting or dropping off a package. “This brings true convenience and freedom,” Chen reports. “Customers can send and receive parcels with greater flexibility, often faster than traditional home delivery.”
Francesco Tribuni, sales manager and locker specialist at Bloq.it, describes PUDO and lockers as “like delivery drivers, always on the field waiting for parcels to be delivered or collected”. He believes that as well as convenience, locker networks drive down operational costs. “They can decrease the shipping cost to a few cents per parcel,” he says. “This can lead to discounts of 50-60% versus standard home delivery prices. It’s like email versus fax 25 years ago – we know how that ended.”
Retailers are also making more use of their stores as fulfillment centers. “For retailers with physical outlets, a store-pick option can be an efficient and streamlined solution,” comments DHL’s Hunter. “In addition to the BOPIS [buy online, pick up in store] option, we are observing a growing number of retailers opting for this fulfillment method with us as their logistics partner. We pick up orders from the retailers’ outlets, feed them into our network and deliver them according to the shopper’s preferences.”
Collaboration and outsourcing
3PLs and OOH delivery providers are working hard with retailers to provide the fulfillment speed the end customer really wants, with many retailers outsourcing e-commerce fulfillment altogether.
Hunter says this is a growing trend. “Our sister division, DHL Supply Chain, has developed significant capabilities, assets and expertise in this area,” he explains. This includes its dedicated global fulfillment network, which covers the entire order handling process – from order acceptance to end delivery and returns management. “This provides customers with scale advantages, as they don’t have to invest in these assets and expertise themselves,” Hunter adds.
SingPost has built a suite of warehousing and fulfillment services to complement its last-mile deliveries and meet the needs of retailers who don’t have the scale to invest in their own warehousing and fulfillment networks. “Our unique proposition of letterbox deliveries enhances our delivery options, including express services, scheduled deliveries, convenient letterbox drops, PUDO services and secure parcel locker networks,” Heng says. “This focus on infrastructure flexibility and customer convenience directly translates into a faster and more efficient end-to-end fulfillment experience.”
Heng adds that further investment will enhance SingPost’s e-commerce fulfillment services. “In our Regional eCommerce Logistics Hub, we’re investing S$30m [US$23m] in new sorting equipment that will triple our current sorting capacity from 100,000 small parcels a day to 300,000,” he explains. “We’re also building up our data capabilities, investing in both the tools and the people who can look at multiple aspects of logistics operations to drive efficiency and provide our customers with valuable insights.”
It’s this continuous drive for innovation that will help logistics partners continue to meet retailers’ needs, allowing them to deliver at the increased speeds that their customers are demanding.
Driving delivery speed expectations
Marketplaces are driving a change in delivery expectations. According to the Retail Economics report, nearly half (48%) of shoppers are planning to shop more often on marketplaces in 2025, where fast fulfillment options such as same- and next-day delivery are often favored.
Naturally, Amazon is one of the biggest drivers of expectations around delivery speed. Its Multi-Channel Fulfillment 3PL division, for example, automatically distributes the inventory of sellers across Amazon’s fulfillment network. This enables stock to be located close to customers, ensuring such inventory is easily accessible and enabling fast delivery.
Stock is distributed by Amazon based on its machine-learning software center, which analyzes sales data, demand forecasts and retailers’ business plans and priorities. It’s the type of best practice that other logistics companies are trying to emulate, according to Bloq.it’s Francesco Tribuni. “If you have an Amazon Prime subscription, you will take speed for granted,” he says.
“Amazon has made clear that it is possible to order until late evening and have your product delivered the next day – or in a few hours, where same day is available – because of its end-to-end model. This has taught us what it means to be smart and always customer-obsessed,” he adds.
This strategy is delivering results. Amazon says it hit its fastest speeds ever for Prime members in the UK in 2024, with more than one billion items arriving the same or next day, and same-day delivery now available for 81 towns and cities across the country.
The company is also accelerating delivery speed using drones. It has delivered thousands of packages to customers in the US in under 60 minutes since launching its drone capability in 2022. Amazon’s first drone deliveries in the UK will be from its Darlington fulfillment center once the relevant permissions are in place.
Meanwhile, Bloq.it has worked with marketplace Vinted to speed up the company’s e-commerce logistics fulfillment. “We supported the setup of Vinted Go in France when they chose to build their own logistics arm, now expanding into Benelux, Spain and Portugal,” confirms Tribuni.
Changing the customer experience through innovation
“Ten years ago, most e-commerce packages came with multicopy paper labels, and sorting was done entirely by hand. It was slow, error-prone and impossible to scale,” says Cainiao Group’s Bo Chen. He claims that Cainiao helped change this by introducing e-waybills in China, digitalizing parcels and enabling real-time tracking and optimized delivery routes powered by big data.
“We also began investing early in warehouse automation – exploring robotics as early as 2015,” he continues. “Today, our automation and digitalization capabilities have been widely recognized by global partners across e-commerce, retail and logistics. These capabilities have become exportable and communalized products. We’ve formed global tech partnerships to support end-to-end warehouse and distribution automation upgrades in Europe, Asia and the Americas, providing everything from warehouse design to on-site execution.”
But there are more powerful innovations to come. “One of our most exciting breakthroughs is our fleet of L4 autonomous delivery vehicles,” Chen adds. “These self-driving vans are already operating at scale across pickup points in China and have proved their reliability, especially during peak seasons. They reduce cost, improve delivery efficiency and offer a powerful glimpse into the future of urban last-mile logistics.”
This article was originally published in the June 2025 issue of Parcel and Postal Technology International
