Panattoni partners with AliExpress and Cainiao for its first fulfillment centre in the CEE region

European industrial real estate market leader Panattoni has been chosen by Alibaba´s logistic arm Cainiao to support AliExpress, the global online marketplace part of Alibaba Group, visited by hundreds of millions of shoppers each month. Its warehouse of over 10,000 sqm in Panattoni Park Łódź West will be devoted to servicing AliExpress sellers. The facility will serve as a fulfillment center for AliExpress merchants shipping products directly from Poland and is the first major investment in fulfillment infrastructure made to support AliExpress merchants serving the Central & Eastern European Region.  By choosing Panattoni Park Łódź West, AliExpress has shown that it appreciates both the developer’s experience, which Panattoni has gained through developing over 4 million sqm of e-commerce space, and the excellent location of the new centre, which will even allow for one-day deliveries to the largest cities of Poland. The centre will also play a strategic role in the company’s deliveries to the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, and Austria. 

Panattoni – the choice of leading e-commerce firms. Over 12 million sqm developed with one-third dedicated to e-commerce – this is how much space Europe’s most active developer, Panattoni, can boast of. The company’s experience and flexibility, as well as its access to the best locations, is what attracts the largest global and regional players such as AliExpress. Currently, over 10,650 sqm of space in Panattoni Park Łódź West will be devoted to supporting AliExpress´sellers local operations, with the support of Alibaba group’s logistics subsidiary Cainiao. The client has shown its appreciation for the flexibility provided by the developer as well as the excellent location of the centre – close to the Łódź ring road, which connects to the motorway network and is also near a railway terminal, allowing goods to be transported from Baltic seaports. 

“Over the last few years, we have become a sure choice for our partners and a symbol of successful expansion. We deliver bespoke facilities in strategic locations within an attractive time frame, and we are always prepared for our clients to broaden their range of operations” - says Kamil Kwiatkowski, the Senior Leasing Manager of Panattoni, and adds: “Polish e-commerce is growing at lightning speed. In 2015, only half of all internet users in the country shopped online and now the figure is almost 8 out of 10. Moreover, by 2026, the value of e-commerce in Poland is expected to reach PLN 162 billion, which is over three times more than in 2018.”

Panattoni Park Łódź West will serve as a fulfillment centre for Aliexpress´sellers in Poland to send their goods. The project will significantly improve the fulfillment operations for the sellers in the country and across the entire region. As early as the end of November, the company would like to start enabling its sellers to deliver goods in just one day to Poland’s largest cities and within 3 days for every other location. Combined with free shipment for 80 pct of all goods, this creates an ideal opportunity to increase the platform’s consumer base in Poland, which has already exceeded 11 million users according to data from August this year. The centre will also play a strategic role for deliveries to the Czechia, Slovakia, Germany, and Austria.

Experts from MAXON Nieruchomości represented the tenant in the negotiation process. - "We are pleased that our client has found warehouse space that suits his business needs. The ideal location of the warehouse (central part of the country) ensures not only convenient communication and logistic conditions but also access to qualified employees from the Łódź area" - comments Dariusz Sroka, Head of Industrial at MAXON Nieruchomości.

Panattoni Park Łódź West, which houses the operation dedicated to AliExpress´ merchants, will eventually comprise 61,000 sqm in one class-A warehouse building, of which around 20,000 sqm has been delivered so far. The project is being constructed close to Łódź’s western ring road, which connects the S8 express road (running from Lower Silesia to Białystok) to the A2 motorway (which links Łódź, Warsaw, Poznań and Berlin). The park is 10 km from the centre of Łódź and only 8 km from Łódź Władysław Reymont International Airport. Panattoni Park Łódź is being developed in line with the developer’s “Go Earthwise with Panattoni” sustainability policy, which among other things, assures increased access to natural light.