Arvato, leading provider of supply chain management and e-commerce solutions, is expanding its long-standing partnership with the DOUGLAS Group. In the 25th year of successful collaboration, Arvato will now also handle the fulfillment for the DOUGLAS Group's customers and stores in Italy, Poland, Central Eastern Europe, and the Baltic countries, in addition to the DACH region.

The centerpieces of these services will be two new distribution hubs in Italy and Poland. The first one is a new 46,000 sqm distribution center in Mszczonów, near Warsaw, Poland. The second site in Bologna will be taking care of warehousing and fulfilment for the complete Italian region on 18,000 sqm of warehouse space. Both logistics centers will be equipped with a high degree of automation technology, and optimally support the DOUGLAS Group's omnichannel strategy.

"We are proud to further expand our successful partnership with the DOUGLAS Group and to bring in our expertise beyond the DACH region," says Julia Börs, President of the industry verticals Beauty & Luxury and Head of ESG at Arvato. "It’s great to take this partnership to the next level. The new distribution centers in Italy and Poland are important steps in our joint growth strategy and will help us to meet the high and changing expectations of Douglas’ end consumers. We particularly made sure that it is our utmost target to not only deliver highest quality of service, but also that the high standards of sustainability we share with the DOUGLAS Group are met.”

Especially the new hub in Mszczonów will not only meet but exceed ESG standards. It will be one of only ten warehouse properties in Poland with a BREEAM certificate at the highest level “Outstanding”. This includes intelligent and consumption-optimized lighting control and the implementation of smart metering systems to monitor energy consumption. Heat pumps serve as an energy source for both heating and cooling and a photovoltaic system on the roof. Operations are expected to commence in the second half of 2025.

The new warehouses in Italy and Poland will, similar to the site in Hamm (Germany), fully function as omnichannel warehouses with a shared inventory for both B2C

(e-commerce) and B2B (stores) orders. They thus optimally support the DOUGLAS Group’s omnichannel business: Europe’s leading omnichannel destination for premium beauty strives to improve the customer experience in both stores and e-commerce through, among others, better product availability and reduced shipping times. Both warehouses will initially supply the domestic markets, with more countries to follow at a later date.

"As we continue to roll out our successful omnichannel supply chain model across Europe, we are happy to have Arvato as a strong and trusted partner," says Dr. Kai Schaal, SVP Supply Chain Management at the DOUGLAS Group. "Together, we will continue to work on extending the service for our customers and ensuring that at DOUGLAS, they’ll find the best beauty shopping experience around.”