The contract covers the delivery of a fully automated system operated with Dematic software. The solution initially consists of twelve multi-shuttle lanes equipped with ergonomic goods-to-person (GTP) stations and a state-of-the-art conveyor system.

The site where the project is being implemented is located in the French town of Lauwin-Planque, around 200 kilometers north of Paris, and covers 66,000 square meters. Work will begin immediately and is scheduled to be completed by 2024. The facility was originally automated by another supplier. Dematic has now been brought in by Kiabi to enhance the existing solution for its e-commerce business, including the production of family apparel and other products for the company's online retail.

The French clothing company, whose mission statement is to "make families' lives easier by combining responsible fashion and sustainable solutions", aims to offer its customers a new omnichannel shopping experience through 553 points of sale in 25 countries and its e-shop to make them feel completely at ease.

According to Kiabi, Dematic's flexible omnichannel solution was a key reason for choosing the specialist for intelligent automation. This is because the Dematic solution makes it possible to manage both e-commerce and store processes more effectively and flexibly.

"With the new system, we can increase our processing and distribution capacities for our web collections and local offers in Northern Europe fivefold. The decision in favor of Dematic was based on the quality of the proposed solution, which was worked out in detail by the Dematic teams during the pre-sales phase," explains Marine Pomart, Supply Chain Director at Kiabi, adding: "The flexible solution also exactly meets the requirements for processing in the online business as well as warehouse and reserve storage. And last but not least, the further development enables us to meet our growth requirements and our declared corporate vision in the short and medium term."

Alain Bussod, Head of Dematic France, is delighted with the contract: "Kiabi, which is continuing its successful development in France and internationally, has placed its trust in us for the coming years by entrusting us with the new omnichannel order preparation unit. It is also an opportunity for Dematic to demonstrate its ability to integrate and connect our solutions to existing systems in the retailer's logistics flagship."