News / As e-commerce sales grow, 'free delivery' becomes more of a myth, says DHL

DHL's Katja Busch presenting in New York last week

Ballooning urbanisation and the spread of smartphones has increased the complexity of last-mile logistics, according to a new report.

Shortening the Last Mile, put together for Deutsche Post DHL by Euromonitor International, found that in the past decade, the world’s urban population grew almost 25%, while e-commerce sales soared 451%.

And chief commercial officer of DHL Katja Busch said despite this massive surge in online sales, profitability for logistics operators had been hobbled.

She said: “Even now, it is still incredibly hard to earn anything as a ...