Modexpress: CEO Niek Fransen on the future of logistics

Global fulfilment company Modexpress has become one of the go-to logistic firms in Europe for fashion and lifestyle brands and retailers, offering solutions for traditional retail and wholesale logistics and direct-to-consumer on a global scale.

Modexpress have been successfully running fashion logistics activities for over 35 years, looking after its partner's entire fashion, footwear, and lifestyle product supply chain. From handling fulfilment, retail, and wholesale distribution to warehouse solutions and pick and pack services – specialised logistics solutions are a must for any brand looking to succeed in fashion.

Headquartered in the Netherlands, Modexpress, which counts Suitsupply, Theory, Cavallaro, Profuomo and NA-KD as clients, has doubled its profits and employees due to the e-commerce boom and overseen millions of orders to online retailers, physical stores, and consumers from its state-of-the-art warehouses.

To find out more about the success behind Modexpress’ growth, FashionUnited spoke to Modexpress CEO Niek Fransen about why it stands out from other logistic firms, how it is helping brands and retailers during these challenging times and its growth plans for the future.

Why should a fashion house, brand or retailer choose Modexpress to become its service provider to roll out or expand its EU revenues?

Modexpress is located in the Netherlands and due to its central position, good infrastructure and excellent connections with the rest of Europe, it is a suitable place to organise logistics from. The bonded warehouse solutions that Modexpress can provide can save import duties, among other things, and also make shipping from the Netherlands attractive.

Modexpress already has a track record of running successful logistic activities for international brands such as SikSilk, OnePiece, Afends and The Couture Club.

What distinguishes Modexpress from other logistics service providers?

Modexpress is a privately owned family company and a logistics specialist for fashion, footwear, and lifestyle. This is what we do and nothing else. Fashion and lifestyle are our only focus. On top of the regular processes, Modexpress offers a wide range of additional services, for instance GOH processing and storage and global forwarding: road, air, and ocean transport. From Morocco, we have RFID-supported logistic processes, bonded warehousing, refurbishing and pre-advised timeslot deliveries into department stores and platforms such as Zalando, Amazon, Asos. This makes us a one-stop shop for our partners.

Standardisation is the holy grail in logistics. But we perfectly understand, with almost 40 years of experience in fashion logistics, that our customers also need custom-made solutions. Modexpress offers its clients these customised services.

What is the secret behind Modexpress' growth in recent years?

Obviously, you need to land new clients to achieve growth. Our sales team managed to do that successfully, alongside a little bit of help from Brexit. Besides implementing new customers, it’s also important to maintain your existing clients. With high service levels and the capability and willingness to facilitate our client’s growth, we realise that.

Has the pandemic changed the way Modexpress works?

It hasn't really, but we are more aware now, and our protocols and procedures are ready when Covid infections rise again. I’m proud that we were able to service our clients on a high level during the pandemic. That was not always easy taking all health regulations and social distancing into account.

How does Modexpress help its brands/retailers remain agile to the ongoing changes in the market?

Nowadays fashion brands and retailers sell their products through many sales channels such as retail stores, web shops, wholesale channels, via Zalando and other multi-brand platforms. As a result of that, we see our clients moving stock physically between sales channels. This causes many additional means of transport, which of course, comes with an increased CO2 footprint and higher costs. It can also have a negative side effect on sales when certain articles are not available at the right time and the right place (= sales channel).

To prevent this all from happening Modexpress has developed an ERP / connectivity platform which enables our clients to move their stock digitally between their sales channels. In this way, Modexpress supports our client's omni-channel strategy.

What growth plans does Modexpress have for the future?

In the third quarter of 2023, we will complete a new state-of-the-art warehouse with a surface of 40,000 sqm. This warehouse will be equipped with a logistics solution that seamlessly meets the wishes of our customers. This solution naturally supports the omni-channel strategy of our customers as mentioned earlier as well. In this new facility, we will process some of our existing clients, but this expansion is mainly to facilitate our growth with new clients.

For more information, visit: Modexpress.