Loir-et-Cher: the growth of e-commerce leads Aosom to set up in Mer

It is no longer news. The municipality of Mer has been attracting logistics activities for years. And it continues to do so. Since 2 March 2021, Aosom, a company specialising in e-commerce, has opened a 21,500 sqm warehouse in the Portes de Chambord industrial estate, rue du Mardeau, not far from the Coliposte platform, in an existing building belonging to the property company Proudreed.

As part of the Chinese group Aosom E-commerce Inc, which operates worldwide and is listed on the Chinese stock exchange, the French subsidiary imports manufactured products that it receives in various ports before transporting them to its warehouses. From indoor and outdoor furniture to toys, sports and pet supplies, the products are sold via marketplaces and online stores.From indoor and outdoor furniture to toys, sports equipment and pet supplies, the products are sold via marketplaces such as Amazon, La Redoute, ManoMano, etc. and two other channels, the Aosom website and B-to-B (business-to-business). The Aosom France teams are based in Issy-les-Moulineaux for the support and marketing functions and in the three warehouses that the French subsidiary now has, for a total of 70 employees on permanent and fixed-term contracts.

After opening a 6,200 sqm warehouse in Roncq (Nord), Aosom set up a second 11,500 sqm warehouse in Droue-sur-Drouette (Eure-et-Loir) on 2 November. Four months later, the one in Mer made its first shipments. Excluding rent, Aosom has invested 1 million euros in this Mer warehouse. For the moment, a dozen employees work on the Loir-et-Chéri platform. There will be thirty by the end of the year.

Strong growth for Aosom France

Aosom France has experienced growth of 35 to 40% every year since 2017 and has recorded an increase of 110% in 2020," says Emmanuel Bénichou, Managing Director of Aosom France since 2017. This increase is both structural and cyclical, linked to the health crisis but also to our strong development in recent years. We have committed to programmes that mean our products must be received by our customers the day after they order. To fulfil this promise, our warehouses must be able to do this. Hence our desire to set up warehouses in the Centre-Val de Loire region, as close as possible to our transport partners. "

Emmanuel Bénichou is convinced that the growth of e-commerce will benefit many regions. To find its warehouses, Aosom worked with EOL, a real estate consultancy, and more specifically with Arnaud Veto, in charge of logistics development in the Centre-Val de Loire region. "We identified a location in Mer in an existing building in good condition and without any problems. A month passed between the first visit to the premises and the signing of the lease," explains Arnaud Veto.

Piggybacking under consideration

The managing director of Aosom France is studying piggybacking solutions as an alternative to sea and road transport: "The idea would be to shift more containers to the railways. Deliveries are already made to the Roncq warehouse by rail. We already have the idea of using piggyback transport between Le Havre and Vierzon, and then linking Vierzon to Mer by truck. "