2023 at DODO: over 6 million orders shipped and record turnover

88 cities, 2,600 couriers, 6 million orders and CZK 1.5 billion in turnover. That was 2023 in numbers. But beyond that, we brought a few innovations to last-mile logistics. Read on to find out what they are.

On our busiest day, we delivered 29,000 orders

We already provide last-mile logistics in 14 segments across Europe in 88 cities. For example, we deliver sports equipment from the Decathlon and Hervis chains or electronics from Electro World and Nay. But our green cars also deliver medicines from Dr. Max and Benu pharmacies or pharmaceuticals from Rossmann stores.

Last year, the average daily delivery was 16,400 orders. On the busiest day of the year, we delivered 29,075 orders, and over 6 million orders for the whole year. 2,600 couriers ensured smooth and professional delivery. And 240 employees in offices across all the markets in which we operate ensured the smooth running of all processes.

We are the most used delivery service in Europe in the online grocery segment

In 2023, we successfully established ourselves on the German and Austrian markets and acquired clients such as Lazy Heroes, Frugee and Bookbot. We have built a strong management team for the entire DACH region. Thanks to this expansion, we are currently the most used online grocery delivery company in the EU. Our most famous clients include Tesco, Albert, Spar, Košík.cz and Bringmeister. Last year we also established a partnership with the Billa chain, for which we deliver from their new e-shop.

Thanks to innovations, we achieved record numbers despite the market downturn

Last year we also focused on efficiency. We optimized operational processes in new markets and found ways to use our fleet more efficiently. As a result, we increased our gross margin by 39% year-on-year. The company’s growth was successful despite the continued tight economic climate and the decline in e-commerce. In the Slovak market we increased turnover by 33% year-on-year, and in Hungary by 13%. Overall, we managed to increase the group’s turnover by 20% to over 63m euros.

“Although the e-commerce segment struggled with an overall decline last year, we managed to achieve significant growth and continue to expand into major western markets. The strong finish to last year indicated that we could see renewed growth in e-commerce this year, and we believe that we at DODO can use this growth to further strengthen our market position,” says Michal Menšík, CEO and majority owner of DODO Group.

We won an award for AI order predictor and continue to develop sustainable logistics

We are proud that our efforts to innovate are also recognized by the media. The Financial Times has ranked us 150th among the top 1,000 most successful companies from 33 European countries.  We won first place twice in the Impuls Logistics competition: the AI Order Predictor won the Top Logistics Project category and Zone Logistics won the Top Logistics Service category. The same innovations were also awarded in The Best of Czech and Slovak Logistics competition, where AI Predictor won the Best Logistics Product category and Zone Logistics won 3rd place in the Most Sustainable Project category.

Zone logistics is also a way we want to make urban logistics more sustainable. This strategy allows us to use our fleet more efficiently and save 10% fuel. But our care for the environment doesn’t stop there. In 2023, we delivered 11,000 lunches to shelters free of charge. Our employees also donated 183 hours of their time to volunteer activities.

Outlook for 2024: technology and greater use of artificial intelligence

For 2024, we plan to further strengthen our grocery delivery business, where we will be looking to acquire strong new partners across markets, offer a standardized same-day delivery product to e-shops, and continue to grow in markets where we are already present.

We believe that technological innovation and the use of AI will play a vital role in last mile logistics. We are therefore investing in the development and enhancement of our GAIA logistics platform over the long term. It analyzes vast amounts of data to optimize all processes and maximize fleet capacity.

Last year’s technological innovation from our workshop is the aforementioned Order Predictor – a tool for more accurate capacity planning up to 14 days in advance with precision down to the hour. We were the first to introduce dynamic pricing in last mile logistics. But we’re far from stopping there, our ambition is to be the technology leaders of the industry and set trends across e-commerce. So again, this year, you can look forward to new technological advances that will make same-day delivery efficient, affordable and environmentally friendly.