EURODIS with a new partner for Greece and Cyprus

EURODIS, the network for the joint international transport of packages and pallets, has gained the Greek express service Geniki Taxydromiki as a new partner. “This increases the number of countries served by our network to 38,” says Jens Reibold, Managing Director of EURODIS GmbH. “The family-run company serves not only Greece for our customers but also the Greek-speaking part of Cyprus.”

(Weinheim) The new partner is led by twin sisters Nadia and Eva Varzakakou, who have been in the business for 20 years and took over the company from their father Panagiotis Varzakakos, who founded it in 1994. “Geniki is active in our core business of combined freight, meaning it transports packages and pallets in one shipment, and meets all EURODIS processes and quality standards,” says Reibold. “Additionally, Geniki handles dangerous goods in limited quantities, known as Limited Quantities, delivers both B2B and B2C shipments, and has a whole range of interesting specialties.”

Geniki operates an online marketplace and logistics from a single source

In Athens, the central hub and headquarters of the company are located on 30,000 square meters. There are regional hubs in Thessaloniki and five other locations. In total, Geniki operates 330 stations in Greece. This number is expected to increase by 15 by the end of the year. Some of the stations are local delivery and pickup bases, while others are pure pickup and drop-off stations (Pudos = Pick-up and Drop-off Stations) that Geniki uses for its online marketplace. Through its internet platform ebloko.gr, Geniki sells a wide variety of products ranging from cosmetics to household goods to electronics. Customers can have the goods delivered to their homes by Geniki or pick them up at the Pudos and also return them.

The company’s customer list includes well-known names such as the cosmetics brand Avon, the German corporations Bayer, BMW, and Bosch, the sporting goods retailer Decathlon, the DIY store chain Praktiker, the textile giant Inditex (Zara), and the insurance group Ergo. In the last four years, Geniki has increased its revenue from 66 to 96 million euros and its gross profit from 8 to 12.4 million.

Almost every second shipment is cash on delivery

Another feature of the Greek express service Geniki Taxydromiki is a very high share of cash on delivery shipments at 48 percent. With an average of over 120,000 shipments delivered daily by Geniki, that amounts to more than 55,000 cash on delivery shipments per day.

The average shipment weight at Geniki is 1.4 kilos, which is due to a high number of relatively small shipments. Therefore, the company uses not only 70 trucks and 750 vans but also 550 motorcycles. In June, Geniki Taxydromiki acquired 20 fully electric delivery vehicles. 13 minivans and 2 electric scooters will be deployed at selected stations across Greece. Five vehicles were sent to a station in Athens, which is to be developed into the first completely “green delivery depot”.

Photo: © Eurodis / Caption: Nadia Varzakakou (center) is one of the two managing directors of Geniki Taxydromiki, the new EURODIS partner for Greece and Cyprus. EURODIS Managing Director Jens Reibold (left) and EURODIS Advisory Board Chairman Peter Umundum welcome her at the recent network meeting among EURODIS partners.