DHL eCommerce, a division of Deutsche Post DHL Group, announced the expansion of its ecommerce order fulfillment service available for merchants in North America with the expansion of its fulfillment centers in Columbus and Riverside.

As a result of growing demand, both existing US facilities have recently significantly increased capacity with investments in storage and mechanization to support the growing needs from US ecommerce players.

“The ecommerce market in the US is estimated to have grown by 15.6 percent in 2016 with sales topping $531 billion,” said Lee Spratt, CEO DHL eCommerce Americas. “Increasingly etailers are seeking fulfillment solutions to enable an omnichannel experience for end consumers. We see a huge demand from US ecommerce players needing best-in-class ecommerce logistics solutions and we’re expanding our capabilities to support these growing demands. Besides doubling our existing US fulfillment centers in Columbus and Riverside and enhancing them with greater automation, we also plan to add an additional center in New Jersey.”

The US expansion is in line with the July 2016 announcement of a $137 million investment to expand infrastructure and capabilities to expand the company’s leading role in ecommerce logistics and to serve US customers with the best solutions amidst the booming ecommerce industry.

The DHL eCommerce fulfillment centers, operated in conjunction with DHL Supply Chain, are located near major urban centers allowing merchants to position their inventory closer to their customers, improving their time to market while reducing shipping costs. The solution is targeted to retailers shipping between 300 and 15,000 orders per day, and supports both B2C and B2B transactions. The facilities are engineered as shared-use fulfillment centers, allowing customers to share space and assets within the warehouse. Customers are charged only for the transactions they have within the warehouse with fees for receiving, storage, and outbound pick and pack. Given the volatile and seasonal nature of ecommerce, removing the fixed cost burden is a huge relief for retailers.

Key to the solution is an order management system operated by IBM Sterling which provides fast customer integration, seamless access and visibility to the network, and allows customers to optimize the placement of inventory and orchestrate orders across the facilities.

EHPlabs, a leading fitness and nutritional supplement brand, has experienced these benefits since joining the network in early 2015. “DHL eCommerce has gone above and beyond to support our business, particularly with the level of fast growth and innovation at our company,” said Julie McConnell, head of customer experience and online sales at EHPlabs. “As a 100 percent dedicated ecommerce company, having a partner that can support our business from the moment a customer places an order to the moment it is delivered to their door is critical to our success. Their commitment to our business helps us provide exceptional service and support to customers in over 125 countries.”