Lithuanian-owned international parcel company Venipak opens its first efulfillment warehouse in Poland. The development in a country with 28 million online shoppers is expected to improve the service quality and further strengthen the company’s position in the Baltics while opening up new business opportunities and a window to Europe for its customers.
Connecting the Baltic States and Poland
The parcel company Venipak opened an air freight unit in Poland a few years ago and this year will lease its first 2,000 sqm warehouse in the country for e-commerce businesses to store their goods. This service will improve the customer experience for businesses trading in Poland and other European countries as the goods will be delivered faster.
“Although the efulfillment market in Poland is really competitive and the quality requirements are high, our experience in the Baltic States shows that we can offer our customers flexibility, innovative IT solutions, and a good user experience. Besides, our network allows us to connect the Baltics and Poland, making it much more convenient for our customers operating in these countries to manage their product flows on a one-stop-shop basis with a single manager,” said Justas Šablinskas, CEO of Venipak.
Focus on business development
According to the statistics portal Statista, global e-tailing volumes surpassed USD 5.2 trillion in 2021 and continue to grow. However, J. Šablinskas says the time and investment required at the start of a business to set up the logistics chain means that even in the local market, business is slow to develop, let alone expand abroad.
“When the number of orders starts to go up, the business starts generating revenue. However, picking, packing, registering, shipping, as well as warehousing, stock management and other tasks are becoming increasingly time-consuming. It is often difficult to manage warehouse rental space because the quantity of goods is not yet stable, etc. So, instead of taking care of business development, business owners start packing the ever-increasing volumes of parcels themselves,” J. Šablinskas says.
According to him, the efulfillment service takes the burden of warehousing and logistics off the shoulders of business owners. In addition to warehousing, the company also selects, packs, and performs other additional services, ranging from complete sets of goods to printing additional flyers and instructions. It also provides an IT infrastructure that allows the client to monitor and manage the flow of goods remotely.
Service since day one
Tomas Petryla, Director of Leto Projektai MB, which manages the well-known Kamado Bono brand, says he started using efulfillment services as soon as he established his business: “This solution simplified the company’s logistics and warehousing processes and saved money, as we only paid for the warehouse space occupied by our goods and the actual logistics demand,” said T. Petryla talking about the business he started eight years ago.
According to him, at that time, only a few companies in Lithuania provided this service, and Venipak’s advantage was its own courier network. It was both cheaper and more convenient to order services from a single supplier, and customers received their goods faster.
The company is now trading in twenty-six countries and plans further expansion, so warehousing services remain relevant at this stage of business development.
Our business is dynamic, so Venipak is currently meeting our needs, and we are excited about their expansion and broadening geography of services,” T. Petryla said.
Warehouses keep filling up
Venipak CEO says the efulfillment warehouse in Warsaw will operate in a similar way as in the Baltics. Existing customers looking to store goods in Poland will continue to work with the same manager, i.e., a single contact. Customers will be serviced in English, Lithuanian, and Polish, and the self-service system will be integrated into major e-commerce platforms.
J. Šablinskas says the efulfillment warehouse currently located in Lithuania has had to be expanded several times due to growing demand. It currently covers 8,000 square meters and is one and a half times larger than a football field, and will further grow this year.
“Business owners in the Baltics have already discovered this service, they appreciate the added value it brings to their business, and are eager to use it. The demand is really very high because as soon as we add more warehouse space, new customers make sure it’s filled immediately. We expect Venipak’s activities in Poland to continue to expand over time,” notes J. Šablinskas.