Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Descartes pays $30 million to acquire delivery route planning vendor GreenMile

Price tag could reach $40 million if firm hits revenue targets for its software products for retail food and beverage delivery.

greenmile-Screen-Shot-2021-07-08-at-3.56.15-PM.png

Canadian logistics technology provider Descartes Systems Group says it can help distributors improve their final-mile delivery operations, since the company announced its latest acquisition today and paid $30 million to buy GreenMile, which provides cloud-based mobile route execution solutions for the retail food and beverage sector.

Ontario-based Descartes has been on an acquisition tear for years, adding many companies to its software-as-a-service platform for tasks like delivery routing, shipment execution, transportation invoicing, global trade data management, and customs and security compliance.


Most recently, the company bought the German firm Portrix Logistics Software for $26.7 million and the New Jersey import/export firm QuestaWeb for $36 million.

The latest takeover is Orlando, Florida-based GreenMile, which says its software helps food and beverage companies to digitalize their final-mile delivery processes, thereby eliminating paper from the supply chain, increasing efficiencies, and improving customer satisfaction. The purchase price of $30 million could rise as high as $40 million if GreenMile meets performance targets for revenue generation over the next two years.

“We continue to invest in a broader set of capabilities to help our customers across diverse industry verticals solve their final-mile challenges,” Descartes CEO Edward J Ryan said in a release. “The GreenMile combination helps us by adding a team with deep domain expertise in retail food and beverage distribution, extending our operational footprint and presence in Latin America, and adding to our community of truly global distribution companies.”

Recent

More Stories

Just 29% of supply chain organizations are prepared to meet future readiness demands

Just 29% of supply chain organizations are prepared to meet future readiness demands

Just 29% of supply chain organizations have the competitive characteristics they’ll need for future readiness, according to a Gartner survey released Tuesday. The survey focused on how organizations are preparing for future challenges and to keep their supply chains competitive.

Gartner surveyed 579 supply chain practitioners to determine the capabilities needed to manage the “future drivers of influence” on supply chains, which include artificial intelligence (AI) achievement and the ability to navigate new trade policies. According to the survey, the five competitive characteristics are: agility, resilience, regionalization, integrated ecosystems, and integrated enterprise strategy.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

screen shot of returns apps on different devices

Optoro: 69% of shoppers admit to “wardrobing” fraud

With returns now a routine part of the shopping journey, technology provider Optoro says a recent survey has identified four trends influencing shopper preferences and retailer priorities.

First, 54% of retailers are looking for ways to increase their financial recovery from returns. That’s because the cost to return a purchase averages 27% of the purchase price, which erases as much as 50% of the sales margin. But consumers have their own interests in mind: 76% of shoppers admit they’ve embellished or exaggerated the return reason to avoid a fee, a 39% increase from 2023 to 204.

Keep ReadingShow less
robots carry goods through a warehouse

Fortna: rethink your distribution strategy for 2025

Facing an evolving supply chain landscape in 2025, companies are being forced to rethink their distribution strategies to cope with challenges like rising cost pressures, persistent labor shortages, and the complexities of managing SKU proliferation.

But according to the systems integrator Fortna, businesses can remain competitive if they focus on five core areas:

Keep ReadingShow less
shopper uses smartphone in retail store

EY lists five ways to fortify omnichannel retail

In the fallout from the pandemic, the term “omnichannel” seems both out of date and yet more vital than ever, according to a study from consulting firm EY.

That clash has come as retailers have been hustling to adjust to pandemic swings like a renewed focus on e-commerce, then swiftly reimagining store experiences as foot traffic returned. But even as the dust settles from those changes, retailers are now facing renewed questions about how best to define their omnichannel strategy in a world where customers have increasing power and information.

Keep ReadingShow less
artistic image of a building roof

BCG: tariffs would accelerate change in global trade flows

Geopolitical rivalries, alliances, and aspirations are rewiring the global economy—and the imposition of new tariffs on foreign imports by the U.S. will accelerate that process, according to an analysis by Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

Without a broad increase in tariffs, world trade in goods will keep growing at an average of 2.9% annually for the next eight years, the firm forecasts in its report, “Great Powers, Geopolitics, and the Future of Trade.” But the routes goods travel will change markedly as North America reduces its dependence on China and China builds up its links with the Global South, which is cementing its power in the global trade map.

Keep ReadingShow less