T-ZIR and Zaragoza Logistic Center united by the challenges of retail

T-ZIR, the Retail Innovation Center of Zaragoza, and the Zaragoza Logistics Center (ZLC) research institute have signed a collaboration agreement with the aim of joining forces in the search for new solutions and logistic models applied to the retail sector of the future. 

The profound disruptive changes in consumer purchasing behavior and the exponential growth of electronic commerce in our country (30% year-on-year), which recorded a turnover of more than 40,000 million euros in 2018, are the main challenges that will face T-ZIR and ZLC jointly after the signing of this agreement.

"The future of logistics in cities is today a great challenge and a great opportunity. We must be able to understand the new relationship with the consumer and take it to the logistics field, generating innovative solutions that make us competitive, not only in the last mile but in the last hundred meters of each delivery, a determining factor for the optimization of logistics costs and customer satisfaction ", said Luis Barcelona, ​​CEO of T-ZIR, which also emphasized that" these new logistic models must be built from an environmentally responsible perspective and under a criterion of sustainability ". 

In this sense, Susana Val, director of ZLC, center promoted by the Diputación General de Aragón and attached to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Zaragoza, explained that "the last mile is still the unfinished business of the supply chain. Added to this are factors such as new consumer trends, technological disruption and the need to design innovative solutions that are environmentally sustainable. In this line, ZLC aims to provide solutions to this transition towards a renewed urban distribution concept, with new logistic models in line with the digital transformation that the retail sector is producing. "

The first project in which both entities will work will be the study of the new logistic service linked to the zerca! Platform, a project promoted by T-ZIR and backed by the Henneo Group, Ibercaja and the Zaragoza Chamber. 

zerca!, whose mission is to digitize urban commerce, already has almost 400 shops attached to the city of Zaragoza after its presentation on May 9, and is scheduled to launch to the end customer in November this year. T-ZIR and ZLC will study the best and most innovative logistics solutions, which will then be integrated into this platform.

For its part, ZLC has already developed numerous studies related to the last mile distribution, specifically in the identification of critical factors for the distribution and design of innovative solutions, as well as in projects related to sustainability and reduction of carbon footprint in the transport chain and others, such as the design of interoperable platforms for the exchange of information and improvement of mobility in Europe.