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The Customization Group’s desire to remove the complexity from last-mile deliveries, while still offering great customer service and choice, led the retailer to form a new partnership with Maersk.
From personalisation to global scale: meeting last-mile challenges
From its beginnings in a garage in Cologne, Germany nearly 20 years ago, the Customization Group is now a global leader in mass customisation. Allowing millions of customers worldwide to personalise a range of products on demand – from wall art to photo books.
But serving over 170 countries and producing more than 2,500,000 customised items a day of all different sizes and weights creates logistical challenges… particularly in the final mile.
“Our products range from a small print to a large canvas with a volumetric weight. We constantly juggle last-mile providers, consolidate shipping lanes, and adapt to regional nuances. We always need a reliable partner for end-consumer shipping, especially when people order gifts during big sales events like Christmas. Even when customers aren’t at home, they still expect seamless delivery—at the lowest possible cost and with the fastest speed.” - Philipp Mühlbauer, CEO and Founder, The Customization Group.
This complexity led the retailer to a new partnership with Maersk, launched in December 2025. Covering both last-mile delivery to end consumers, Pick Up and Drop Off (PUDO) points – like lockers and local shops – across Europe, and home delivery across Western Europe and the Nordics.
Delivering choice and flexibility through Maersk’s multi-carrier solution
A brand built on the power of customisation and choice needs flexibility in logistics, too. Maersk’s last mile delivery solution is multicarrier, meaning The Customization Group can offer delivery and access to PUDO points via several carriers: whichever best suits the product, the customer or the circumstances.
We chose Maersk because the offer was a meaningful addition that made sense economically, could increase customer happiness, and can streamline our logistics operation. Having a network of PUDO partners also means you can offer full coverage. We see a lot of potential to increase the speed of delivery versus unsuccessful deliveries to home addresses. PUDO gives the customer a lot of flexibility: it’s great that Maersk can help us access it.
The Customization Group believe it should be possible for any customer to pick up their product within 10 minutes from their home, and the broad range of PUDO points available via Maersk brings this goal closer than ever. But it’s important to be able to switch last-mile carriers for other reasons, too.
We are in the business of delivering presents and emotional memories to our customers, so it’s our responsibility to ensure the gifts arrive on time. Partnering with Maersk will help us reduce the complexity that we face in the last month of the year during our peak season. For us, the last mile has to be streamlined and efficient – and that is what we are really hoping to get from the partnership with Maersk.
If there’s a strike, performance issue or challenge with capacity, Maersk’s solution is flexible enough to switch to any last-mile carrier – all within the same API. Changing the provider can now happen very quickly through Maersk’s one-stop shop, rather than taking the typical 3-6 months.
Smoothening out complexity through consolidation
It’s useful to have the right parcel solution for the right job, like choosing the offering with the lowest oversize charge for the largest products. But managing lots of different last-mile carriers can be complex. Which is why Maersk acts as a consolidator of all the contracts, dealing with the carriers on The Customization Group’s behalf to minimise complexity.
Smart integration that connects multiple carriers into a single platform. This gives them the flexibility in carrier choice without the complexity of managing each carrier individually.
“The hardest thing you can do in end consumer e-commerce is logistics. A partner who can consolidate, route, and intelligently automate this process gives us a decisive advantage. Bringing a product from our warehouse to millions of households on time, with good quality and at a price that the end consumer can afford. We are very happy we can team up with Maersk to do exactly this.” - Philipp Mühlbauer, CEO and Founder, The Customization Group.
Moving towards a more sustainable future
On-demand production is an industry based around creating what is needed, so it is inherently less wasteful.
“We don’t over-produce. Because every order is personalised, we have a close to zero return rate, which means fewer wasted resources and products ending up in landfill. That’s not comparable to other e-commerce industries like fashion, where high return rates drive unnecessary shipping and excess inventory. Our business model results in significantly lower emissions, fewer shipping cycles, and a supply chain that is inherently more efficient and responsible.”- Ilze Zumente, PhD, Chief of Staff, The Customization Group.
Sustainability is a core value at The Customization Group and was an essential part of the criteria in choosing a logistics partner. Maersk is integrating the world for a sustainable future, with a focus on going ‘All the way to zero’: a commitment to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions across the business by 2040.
“We wouldn’t have chosen a partner that wasn’t focused on sustainability and the future of the world.” - Philipp Mühlbauer, CEO and Founder, The Customization Group.
Growing in partnership
The future is full of possibilities for growth for The Customization Group, which is well positioned in North America and Europe to continue to expand in these markets.
Beyond its consumer business, The Customization Group is also expanding partnerships with B2B and white-label clients. By powering on-demand personalisation behind the scenes for major brands and corporate partners, the company enables organisations to offer customized products under their own name, without needing to invest in production or logistics infrastructure. With Maersk’s flexible parcel delivery services and ability to scale across borders, these B2B collaborations can grow faster while maintaining reliable, sustainable logistics at their core.
“We need a very stable, robust partner who can support and collaborate with us to find the right solutions for the challenges we are facing across the globe.” - Ilze Zumente, PhD, Chief of Staff, The Customization Group.
What might the future look like for the partnership between Maersk and The Customization Group? Despite being in the early days of collaboration, Philipp Mühlbauer has a vision.
“We are very interested in seeing how we can support each other. Maersk could help us to increase our business – in promotional products for example – and Maersk benefits because we have more parcels to send. If the partnership is successful, we could explore ocean freight and US-based last mile solutions. There’s potential for Maersk to play a larger role in our global logistics, especially in areas where we’re seeking better consolidation, predictability, or service innovation.”
The Maersk team shares this vision, too:
So far, our relationship has grown through open and transparent engagement. We have focused on The Customization Group’s needs and translated their pain points into tailored solutions. It’s about driving efficiency and reducing end-to-end cost through collaboration and innovation.
Ultimately our aim is to be a global partner that evolves with The Customization Group, supporting them to scale and meet their strategic goals.
Both The Customization Group and Maersk know this is just the beginning of the shared journey, and so, we are committed to a review after the coming peak season to see how smoothly everything went. Watch this space for an update on the success story as we grow together!
