eStore Logistics opens autonomous Sydney fulfilment centre to meet burgeoning demand

MELBOURNE, Australia 28 October 2021 — Australia’s largest ecommerce fulfilment provider eStore Logistics has today announced the opening of its eighth fulfilment centre, located in Bankstown, Sydney. The new centre takes eStore Logistics’ warehousing footprint to around 120,000sqm across Australia. Over 80,000sqm has opened within the last 14 months following the ecommerce boom sparked by the pandemic – equivalent to four times the size of the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

At 19,310 sqm, this will be eStore’s second largest fulfilment centre overall, and its largest in New South Wales. The $75 million warehouse will be equipped with 77 AI powered Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) working alongside expert staff to create the smoothest and most efficient fulfilment solution possible. eStore plans to expand to 120 AMRs as a mezzanine level will be added to the warehouse by the end of 2022, enabling automated picking from AMR’s across multiple storeys using a mezzanine platform – the first of its kind in Australia.

This is eStore Logistics’ fourth fulfilment centre featuring the AI powered AMR picking technology and increases the fleet to over 330 robots. Utilising AMR technology since March 2020, eStore has been providing Victorian retailers with same day fulfilment for ecommerce orders placed as late as 4pm and same day delivery to their customers. eStore is now expanding this service offering to retailers which hold their stock in NSW.

The distribution centre has been designed to cater for a wide variety of products that are sold online. It will service retailers that have large bulky products such as furniture and appliances, wine retailers, and retailers that sell products which are suited to AMR including fashion and apparel, health and beauty, books and CD/DVD’s, sports and hobbies.

The new development comes at a unique time for the Australian ecommerce sector as we emerge from a prolonged period of lockdowns across the country which have added to the growing demand for ecommerce. The fulfilment centre will be fully operational from November 2021 and create up to 120 jobs.

eStore Logistics Founder & Managing Director, Leigh Williams said, “The world has changed a lot over the last 18 months and ecommerce has been completely transformed. Consumers are demanding faster and more flexible deliveries, and we’ve been scaling our business to meet the growing demand, by providing our customers with state of the art fulfilment and warehousing solutions.

“Automated robots have already significantly sped up the picking and packing process for our customers. Our best in class warehousing and fulfilment systems mean online retailers can give their customers the best service possible — including same day delivery — in the most cost-effective way possible. We’re delighted that, with the opening of our eighth site, this service is available to more Aussie businesses than ever.

“We’ve seen huge demand from ecommerce and omni-channel retailers that are looking to instate eStore’s turnkey warehousing, fulfilment and last mile solutions, driven by the desire to improve service, speed of fulfilment and scale during peak periods. All of these new business opportunities are fuelling strong revenue growth and building economies of scale for eStore.”

eStore Logistics partnered with specialist supply chain and property consultancy TMX on securing this new facility. TMX secured a 10-year lease for eStore with Altis Property Partners and will now project manage the end construction of the speculative development alongside Altis. This is the second facility TMX have sourced for eStore in the last two years in Western Sydney to accommodate eStore’s significant growth.

Jack Moroney, Director at TMX, who negotiated the transaction on behalf of eStore, noted, “With the rapid growth of eStore Logistics, they needed to procure another industrial facility in Western Sydney that was operational by the end of this year. Through our property and construction project management expertise, we procured a facility well under construction in a prime infill location nearby the M5 Motorway. Our team ensured all the bespoke operational needs of eStore were included within the base building definition to mitigate eStore’s risk exposure during their tenancy and enable them to operate from the site at practical completion.”