Blue Yonder to acquire Doddle

With Doddle’s capabilities, Blue Yonder will be able to offer retailers and logistics service providers such as carriers a simplified experience for their own customers as well as a growth potential as they look to strengthen their businesses and build more sustainable supply chains. In addition, Doddle’s self-service return kiosks and pick-up, drop-off (PUDO) networks will aim to offer retail and logistics businesses an efficient solution to returns management challenges. 

The press release highlights that companies are now recognising the importance of solid and optimised delivery and returns offerings, and Doddle’s solutions offer customers a way to reduce costs and inventory waste. According to the National Retail Federation, in 2022, consumers returned over USD 816 billion worth of products. Other estimates suggest that only about 50% of returned products make it back on store shelves. Returns are possibly the main pain point for retailers, carriers, and consumers alike. In the same way, return management is a big focal point of ecommerce globally, as the industry becomes increasingly aware of the impact returns can have on customer experience and overall profitability.  

With Doddle, Blue Yonder will be able to leverage a comprehensive suite from planning and execution to fulfilment and returns to build more sustainable and profitable, end-to-end supply chains. At close, Blue Yonder’s Warehouse Management (WMS), Order Management (OMS), and Transportation Management (TMS) customers, including retailers, logistics service providers, and postal carriers, will be provided with the potential for growth in both scale and cost reduction, with a full-circle logistics experience. Doddle extends Blue Yonder offerings to fully orchestrate the network from customer engagement to stores, fulfilment centres, and logistics, completing the ecosystem needed to support reverse logistics, shipment consolidations, and inventory circularity. 

The acquisition agreement was signed by Blue Yonder and Doddle in October 2023 and the transaction is expected to close in Q4 2023. The intent to acquire Doddle was announced jointly by Angove and Robinson at ICON London, Blue Yonder’s premiere supply chain conference. 

Headquartered in the UK, Doddle is the first and last-mile technology platform for businesses in ecommerce logistics. Its solutions power delivery and returns for brands, covering end-to-end returns management, drop-off automation, and out-of-home network operation and management. The company’s goal is to make ecommerce more efficient and sustainable for parcel carriers and retailers, as well as a better experience for consumers. 

Blue Yonder is a player in digital supply chain transformations and omni-channel commerce fulfilment. Its end-to-end, cognitive business platform enables retailers, manufacturers, and logistics providers to best fulfil customer demand from planning through delivery. With Blue Yonder, customers can unify their data, supply chain, and retail commerce operations to unlock business opportunities and drive automation, control, and orchestration.