Blue Yonder will acquire British e-commerce returns specialist Doddle

Supply chain solutions provider Blue Yonder has agreed to acquire Doddle, a British first and last mile technology business, saying the deal will expand its product suite to include “full-circle expertise” encompassing final mile, returns management, and reverse logistics solutions.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

While once an afterthought, companies are now recognizing the tremendous importance of robust and optimized delivery and returns offerings, and Doddle’s solutions offer customers a seamless way to reduce costs and inventory waste, Scottsdale, Arizona-based Blue Yonder said. 

By adding Doddle’s capabilities to its portfolio, Blue Yonder says it will be able to offer retailers and logistics service providers (LSPs) such as carriers not only a transformed yet simplified experience for their own customers, but also enhanced 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 offer retail and logistics businesses an efficient, much-needed solution to today’s returns management challenges.

“Doddle has achieved what so few other companies have been able to accomplish: it has cracked the code of first- and last-mile together with omni-channel returns,” Duncan Angove, CEO, Blue Yonder, said in a release. “The beauty of Doddle’s solution is that they solve the returns problem end-to-end. From returns initiation, to returns rules, from in-store returns processing to self-service kiosks, right through to warehouse returns handling and back into stock. The proliferation of e-commerce — and, therefore, returns — has placed increased pressure on carriers, muddied the waters of inventory management, and created frustrations for shoppers. Doddle’s capabilities unlock a differentiated, superior customer experience and will help us to further our mission to transform the supply chain.”