E-commerce fulfillment in Romania: a strategic hub for European growth

If you’re an e-commerce company that wishes to establish a foothold in the European market, then Romania is a great place to centralize your warehousing and fulfillment.

You could be a European player that is currently selling in your own country but have identified growth opportunities in other parts of Europe. Romania could be the perfect springboard for you to reach your new end customers.

You could be a merchant from outside of Europe (from North America or Asia, for example) who wants to enter the European market. You need a strategic location from which to reach multiple countries. Being able to consolidate your EU de minimis handling by nearshoring your stock into Romania could also be a value driver for you.

1. Strategic location
   Romania is strategically placed to capitalize on trade by road, sea and air. It borders five other European countries: Ukraine and Moldova to the east, Hungary and Serbia to the west, and Bulgaria to the south. Even countries that Romania doesn’t share a border with, like Greece and Austria, are also important markets due to the ease of reaching them. 
2. Infrastructure
   Road: “As a country, we have really been investing in our roads,” says Dan Puiu, Business Development Director, DHL Supply Chain. “Furthermore, as our motorways become more connected, we are increasingly becoming part of a vast road network of highways across Europe.”
   Ocean: The Port of Constanța lies on the Black Sea in the east of Romania. Not just a standard port, it is among the top 10 busiest seaports in Europe by cargo volume. It has 156 berths across a total quay length of nearly 30 kilometers, handling over 75 million tons of cargo annually. “This is a really important entry point to Romania,” says Dan. “We’re seeing growing inbound shipments from China and Türkiye, among other countries.”
   River: The River Danube is a backbone of water transport across Europe. The Danube-Black Sea Canal links the maritime routes from Port of Constanța with a network of ten CEE countries. “When you also factor in the River Rhine, the Rhine-Danube corridor can be used to move industrial freight inland, completely bypassing the longer Atlantic maritime routes,” notes Dan.
   Air: Romania is serviced by daily DHL flights from the capital, Bucharest, and Cluj-Napoca, which means it offers deliveries to most European cities in two days or less.
   Rail: “Romania’s rail network is a gateway between Central Europe, the Balkans and the Black Sea,” says Dan, “and successive investments in rail have been ongoing in Romania for many years.” 
3. People
   Vlad Dogaru, Head of Marketing, DHL Fulfillment Network, tells us about the workforce: “We have a highly educated workforce in Romania, with an outward-looking viewpoint, thanks to our central location and history of cross-border trade.” The workforce is highly technical and multilingual, with a stable employment rate. 
4. Cost
   “Romania can offer an attractive cost base relative to several other European markets” says Vlad. This has a bearing on many aspects of supply chain logistics, from warehouse build costs, to rent and labor. “Customers consistently highlight the high quality of service and the strength of the fulfillment network in Romania, further supported by a competitive cost environment.”
5. Customs clearance
   “Being part of the European Union (EU), and often an entry point for goods in the bloc, we have become true experts in customs clearance,” says Dan. Once goods enter the EU, they only have to clear customs once, so developing a high level of expertise in this gives Romania a great advantage.
6. Stability
   “Not only have we been members of the EU since 2007, but we are also members of NATO and part of the Schengen Area,” explains Vlad. “This means that the country benefits from long-term political and economic stability, along with multiple opportunities to work across borders with ease. Being part of Schengen means there are no land border checks with EU neighbors, which directly reduces road transit times and logistics costs. 
7. E-commerce infrastructure
   Very large warehouses have developed in Romania. Dan describes these further: “Their growth in the past ten years has been really noteworthy, and they are at about 90% occupancy.” These are supporting – and in fact driving – growth in e-commerce logistics across the region.
8. Longstanding logistics
   Dan tells us of DHL’s prowess: “When it comes to DHL, we have been big players in Romania for many years: DHL Express for some 35 years, and DHL Global Forwarding and Freight for upwards of 20 years.” DHL Express recently invested €5 million in a carbon-neutral hub in Bucharest, and our Balkan Express service links Romania to Bulgaria by road in just 1-2 days. Our Global Forwarding team coordinates international air, ocean and overland freight and our DHL Freight team operates major logistics, road and rail terminals across key cities. DHL Supply Chain has recently taken over a huge distribution center in Bucharest, establishing end-to-end logistics capabilities that connect Romania with other countries in the region.
9. Future focused
   When Romania was identified as one of DHL’s ‘Global Tailwinds 20’ – 20 countries that are poised to gain from focus and investment – we were delighted as it has served to highlight and drive our potential. Our different business units meet regularly to share ideas and drive efficiencies and customer solutions together.
10. Parcel locker culture
    There is a strong parcel locker culture in Romania: multiple excellent locker networks exist, making e-commerce very attractive. “This often makes last-mile efforts quicker and more efficient, bringing delivery times down,” says Dan.

DHL Fulfillment Network offers scalable, flexible fulfillment, with a network of warehouses all over the globe. With our pay-per-use model, customers can scale up to meet periods of high demand and can then scale back down again.

“All customers benefit from using our advanced inventory insights: an intuitive digital dashboard that lets them analyze stock movements by location,” says Vlad. “They can post ‘what if’ scenarios to help forecast and optimize for peak periods.”

“At DHL Fulfillment Network, we can use our own DHL Group fleet for last mile deliveries that cover both B2C and B2B requirements, and we also work with all major local carriers, as we know many companies have existing relationships with these,” says Vlad. “We have a very strong network and offer next-day delivery in most cases.”

Onboarding with us is rapid, and we integrate with customers’ IT systems and webshops with ease. “And once you’re set up with us in one location, say Romania, and your customer base then grows anywhere in Europe (or even globally), you can start warehousing stock in many of our sites and fulfill orders from there,” notes Vlad. “You don’t need additional IT onboarding to partner with us in a new market: it’s simply plug-and-play. This is the power of our standardized DHL network, and it can become your competitive advantage”

Vlad continues: “We’re part of the wider DHL Group with our express, air, road, rail and ocean freight capabilities. All good reasons to use us for your e-commerce fulfillment.”

Learn more about our other Central and Eastern European locations here to find your ideal logistics hub.