Efficiency as a trend – warehouse logistics 2025

According to McKinsey, the global e-commerce market grew by 22% in 2024. In major cities across the U.S. and Europe, 15-20% of online orders are delivered same-day, especially in fashion, groceries, and electronics. Customers expect delivery before lunchtime, so warehouses relying on manual handling and outdated inventory systems cannot efficiently meet these time-sensitive demands.

For over 12 years, KAPELOU has been implementing comprehensive warehouse automation solutions. We’ve observed how warehouse technology is radically reshaping order fulfillment. In this article, we analyze TOP-5 Logistics trends 2025 and share practical, proven solutions that truly work.

Trend #1 – Warehouse automation: creating an organized space with controlled processes

What is warehouse automation? It is the use of technology, software, and equipment to perform warehouse operations with minimal human intervention. Warehouse space is no longer just a place to store boxes on shelves. Automated and robotic technologies handle all routine cargo operations – from receiving to order packing. Machine vision allows for rapid item recognition and quality control. AI-driven analytics help forecast demand, optimize picking routes, and organize SKU placement. Robotic and automated transport systems move pallets and boxes instead of manual laborers, speeding up order processing and increasing picking accuracy up to 99.9%.

For companies starting automation, it’s crucial to select flexible, modular equipment that can scale to peak and seasonal demands. KAPELOU’s 850+ automation projects of varying scales validate the effectiveness of this approach.

Trend #2 – Local warehouses for efficient last-mile delivery

How can delivery to customers be accelerated? Small urban warehouses, or “dark stores,” have emerged in response to the growth of same-day delivery. They are compact, technologically equipped, and reduce pressure on the central hub.

For example, in Greece, a KAPELOU dark-store automation project doubled the productivity of online order picking per shift. Conveyor lines deliver loaded trays to the goods consolidation area across 14 directions. During peak loads, if staff cannot keep up with order picking, trays are routed to a buffer zone based on an accumulation conveyor, ensuring continuous operations.

Such solutions are trending in Europe, the U.S., and Asia, where last-mile delivery speed and picking accuracy are critical competitive factors. They allow retailers and logistics operators to scale operations, reduce returns, and maintain consistently high customer service levels. Small warehouses do not replace the main hub but allow goods to be located where they are needed at the right time.

Trend #3 – Optimizing intralogistics through digital analytics

Today, intralogistics can no longer rely on experience or guesswork – it runs on real-time data. In 2025, companies are rethinking their supply chains by implementing digital tracking. Data usage allows companies to adjust and personalize transport routes, efficiently combine multiple orders, and reduce transportation and resource costs.

Even the most advanced sensors are only effective when combined with IT – WMS, WXS, WCS, HMI, and AI analytics. Cloud technologies play a crucial role, providing transparency across supply chains in real time and enabling demand fluctuation forecasting. Logistics hubs like IKEA, DSV, and Langham Logistics are already using drones for inventory management, improving accuracy, reducing staffing needs, and cutting energy consumption.

Our experience shows that digital technologies can increase storage accuracy to 99.9%, significantly reduce losses, prevent downtime, and identify bottlenecks before they become problems. In an automotive customer project, KAPELOU custom software was applied to automate operator workstations, speeding up sorters’ work and creating a comfortable workspace. Operators access a single interface with detailed product information, packing rules, and order data.

Trend #4 – Sustainability & ESG: how technology drives efficiency

Environmental responsibility is now a key component of corporate branding and a major efficiency metric. Smart warehouses in Europe can process goods quickly, efficiently, and safely while supporting Sustainability and ESG principles – addressing environmental, social, and governance factors. Increasingly, companies are switching to alternative fuels to meet ecological standards. Eco-friendly packaging and route optimization are logistics trends that save resources and increase productivity.

Automated intralogistics and digital technologies enable more output with fewer resources:

• resource optimization: robotic equipment allows precise planning of internal logistics routes, product storage, and energy use, reducing unnecessary movements, fuel consumption, and CO₂ emissions per unit.
• safe and comfortable work environments: robots and warehouse automation equipment take on heavy, repetitive, and hazardous tasks, lowering injury risk and physical strain.
• transparency and reporting: technology captures accurate data on goods storage and movement and energy consumption, facilitating clear ESG reporting. Resource consumption forecasting and efficiency analysis increase trust and reduce business risk.

Trend #5 – Humans + Robots: benefits of hybrid teams

Robots complement human work by taking over repetitive and physically demanding tasks, allowing employees to focus on cognitive responsibilities. Today, digital skills and technology training are as critical as safe lifting techniques were twenty years ago. Hybrid teams combine robotic precision with human flexibility, improving efficiency, safety, and quality.

Internal logistics technologies are effective only when personnel understand how to operate them properly. Current logistics trends emphasize certification for robotic equipment management, as warehouse process automation requires new expertise. European companies invest in training to create teams where humans and robots operate as a single mechanism. The result: skilled operators work more efficiently, make fewer errors, and maximize technology ROI.

How to make internal logistics efficient: KAPELOU expert tips

1. Check equipment configuration flexibility: modularity allows conveyors to scale.
2. Use real data, digital tools, AI forecasts, and seasonal insights: warehouse digitalization helps to identify potential bottlenecks before they arise.
3. Test micro-warehouses in major cities for storage: a tool for same-day delivery to reduce pressure on central hubs.
4. Invest in hybrid team training: humans + robots = resilience. Digital skills, analytics, and robotic management are now critical.
5. Monitor logistics accuracy and speed: KPIs should cover goods storage and movement, equipment condition, processing time and quality, transport, and freight operations.

Key 2025 trend – internal logistics transformation

The trend of increasing internal logistics efficiency emerged in Europe in the early 2010s with the introduction of automated conveyors, sorters, and pallet/box storage and handling equipment. Since then, it has remained a top priority for investments in e-commerce, distribution, retail, pharmaceuticals, automotive, and 3PL.

Companies focusing on AI analytics, digital and “green” practices, robotics in logistics, gain significant benefits:

• cost and resource efficiency, real-time operational transparency;
• high process speed and accuracy;
• competitive, customer-oriented brand image;
• workplace safety.

Don’t wait for the market to force you to catch up with competitors. Make your internal logistics precise, resilient, and efficient with KAPELOU today.