Page 17 - bne_Tech_12_2019

Fintech & E-commerce
December 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 17
Amazon to open pan- European e-commerce logistics centre in Poland
International online retail giant Amazon is preparing to open a 210,000 sqm e-commerce logistics centre serving the whole European market in Gliwice, southern Poland, revealed industrial real estate company Panattoni, which built the facility.
The centre in the Katowice Special Economic Zone, due to open in 2020, is Amazon’s seventh in Poland and according to Panattoni will be “record- breaking” in terms of size and functionality – it will fulfil customer orders for small and medium- sized items such as books and electronics for across the continent.
The facility will be built on four stories, and according to Panattoni has advanced Amazon Robotics technology: 3,900 transport robots will help store products on shelves and pick orders.
“Such an approach not only significantly contributes to maximising warehouse capacity, but also helps cut down shipping lead times,” said
Panattoni in a press release. The building has also been equipped with an intelligent building management system (BMS) and motion sensors.
“Poland was the first country in Europe where Amazon Robotics was rolled out in September 2015. By implementing such solutions, we demonstrate our commitment to promoting innovation in logistics, to the benefit of both
our workers and customers alike,” said Steven Harman, vice president for continental Europe operations at Amazon, as quoted in the release.
The investment will create 1,000 jobs, adding to Amazon’s existing 16,000 employees in Poland. The tech giant has invested around €3.3bn in Poland to date.
In November, Amazon opened an e-commerce logistics centre in the Lodz region that will employ almost 1,000 people when it reaches full capacity, according to local media reports.
E-commerce grows in Azerbaijan but still at just 0.2% of retail trade
The e-commerce segment in Azerbaijan has almost doubled in just one year, but it still accounts for just 0.2% of total retail trade
in the country, the executive director of the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communication (CAERC) Vusal Gasimli told a conference in Baku, Azernews reported.
Gasimli blamed the low level of internet penetration in the country, telling delegates at the World E-Commerce Eurasia 2019 Baku Forum that at the current penetration level e-commerce can only reach around 7% of the retail market.
This is despite the ongoing growth of Azerbaijan’s