The German e-commerce market recorded its first revenue growth since 2021 in 2024. According to the Bundesverband E-Commerce und Versandhandel (BEVH), the gross merchandise value increased by 1.1 percent to €80.6 billion. For 2025, BEVH and the EHI Retail Institute forecast further growth of 2.5 percent. This also changes the requirements for logistics processes. Consumers today buy not only electronics and clothing online, but also furniture, large household appliances, sports equipment, or mattresses – products that demand logistics far beyond parcel dimensions.
With the growing share of bulky and consultation-intensive goods in shopping carts, expectations of delivery services are also rising. Standard deliveries quickly reach their limits here. Solutions are needed that combine physically demanding transports with a high level of service quality. Two-man handling, a solution for bulky goods, is increasingly becoming the new standard in the high-quality end-customer segment.
Structural Change in Shopping Carts: Heavy, Bulky, and Demanding
The e-commerce product structure has visibly shifted. More and more retailers are expanding their range to include products that were traditionally reserved for stationary retail, such as washing machines, refrigerators, massage chairs, or box spring beds. These items are not only large but also consultation-intensive, return-sensitive, and demanding in delivery.
The classic parcel format no longer suffices. Two-man handling services, where products are delivered to the point of use, unpacked and assembled, set up, or connected, close the expectation gap between online purchases and stationary service.
E-commerce statistics and studies, such as those by BEVH, show that revenue shares are growing significantly, especially in the furnishing segment in German-speaking countries. Key facts affecting delivery options include:
Increase in online purchases of household goods and appliances (+4.5 percent) and furniture and lamps (+1.2 percent)
Increasing service expectations from customers for high-priced goods
Decline in the acceptance of “curbside deliveries”
But it’s not just the assortment in shopping carts that has changed: Consumer expectations have also risen significantly.
E-commerce Customers: Demanding, Informed, Uncompromising
Online shoppers compare prices, but increasingly also delivery options. Delivery speed remains important; however, more counts for bulky goods: appointment flexibility, delivery to the point of use, transparent communication, and on-site service.
Two-man handling is thus becoming a differentiating factor for brands that want to control the entire customer experience cycle. Those who see the last mile as an extension of their brand impact invest in quality, not just speed. Because: A bad last impression weighs more heavily than any conversion gain. For example, if the new sofa is damaged at the curb or the washing machine delivery ends without connection assistance at the door, customers lose trust – often irreversibly. This results in new delivery requirements:
- Delivery within the desired time window (with advance notice)
- Delivery to the final point of use (including floor service)
- Take-back and disposal of old appliances and packaging
- On-site assembly or commissioning
- Option for direct feedback after delivery
An analysis by GEODIS highlights that consumers increasingly expect precise and personalized deliveries. Service parameters such as delivery time, assembly, and old appliance take-back are becoming more important in purchase decisions than delivery speed alone and are particularly in demand for bulky goods such as furniture and household appliances. This changed expectation has a direct impact on the design of logistics processes.
E-commerce Statistics: Two-Man Handling as a Strategic Factor
For retailers, two-man handling is now becoming competitive: Those who offer demanding products should also provide a service that meets this demand. At the same time, new business areas are constantly emerging: white-glove service, same-day special deliveries, sustainable return logistics, or combination offers with installation and assembly. Classic fulfillment is evolving into an experience-oriented, hybrid logistics system that extends brand promises into people’s homes.
Current e-commerce statistics clearly show that the willingness to pay for additional services in the B2C sector is increasing. According to Statista, almost one in three (28 percent) of the surveyed customers are willing to pay for next-day delivery. According to a DODO study, deliveries within a desired time window (56 percent) and environmentally friendly deliveries (56 percent) are also among the most important factors in online shopping. This not only changes the logistics model but also expands the value proposition of online retail by a new service dimension.
Implementation Challenges: Precision in Two-Man Handling
Establishing a high-performance two-man handling network is a complex task. Unlike classic parcel logistics, large volumes cannot simply be mapped through scaling. Instead, it requires precise coordination, well-trained personnel, and finely tuned route planning.
Furnishings and white goods require time-coordinated delivery windows, teams with technical qualifications, and, if necessary, structured return solutions for packaging or old appliances. Return logistics should therefore be part of the service offering. Operational challenges in two-man handling include:
- Capacity management with highly varying volume situations
- Qualification of personnel for assembly, customer contact, and communication
- Route optimization taking into account building structures, traffic conditions, and parking zones
- Synchronization with warehouse handling and regional routing
Digital Integration: Transparency Builds Trust
The increasing demands can only be met economically and reliably if digital tools for real-time control, planning, and communication are available – a crucial factor with growing shipment volumes and increasing differentiation of services in e-commerce. Because successful two-man handling is not only based on muscle power but also on data competence. Customers expect real-time digital communication, precise time windows, and tracking with location updates.
Logistics service providers who want to map these requirements need interfaces in both directions: to their clients to reliably transfer order and product data, and to end customers to display service status, changes, and feedback live. This supplements the operational offering of two-man handling with data-driven experience logistics – flexibly scalable and firmly integrated into modern e-commerce structures.
Conclusion: Premium Logistics Becomes a Basic Requirement for Bulky Goods
Current e-commerce statistics clearly show that industry growth also includes a new quality in expectation. What was considered premium service yesterday is now part of a new standard: Delivery means more than just delivery – it means experience, commitment, and trust. The continuous growth in e-commerce is shifting the standards of what customers expect from logistics. Two-man handling is therefore an answer to the structural change in online retail and to a clientele that assumes comfort instead of negotiating it.
Those who, like HES, think about two-man handling correctly do not think in transport volumes but in value creation at the customer contact point. And those who work with reliable data, flexible technology, and customer-oriented service architecture create a logistics experience that secures sales, reduces returns, and strengthens brand loyalty in the long term.
