Cornelsen Verlagskontor

What Cornelsen Verlagskontor does

Cornelsen Verlagskontor GmbH (CVK) is a German full-service logistics provider specializing in the warehousing, commissioning, packaging, and distribution of books, calendars, and non-book merchandise on behalf of publishers. Founded in 1966 and headquartered in Bielefeld, the company operates from a 60,000 m² facility with 60,000 pallet storage spaces and ~42,000 active articles, processing over 40 million exemplars and 1.5 million shipments annually to 110 countries. CVK's service portfolio is built around its core Premium-Auslieferung fulfillment platform, complemented by modular offerings including the CVK Online-Bestellsystem (cvk-online.de) ordering portal, CVK Premium-Plus next-day delivery, the CVK Datawarehouse for after-sales reporting, the CVK Parkmodell shipment-bundling service, and an in-house data center (CVK Rechenzentrum) for IT hosting with 256-bit TLS encryption.

The business model is B2B managed services, with revenue derived from fees for warehousing, order management, invoicing, debtor management, commissioning, packaging, and shipping services provided to publishers under individual contractual arrangements. The go-to-market is hybrid: experienced publishing account managers drive enterprise field sales to premium book, calendar, and non-book publishers in the D-A-CH region, while the cvk-online.de portal enables inside-sales self-service ordering, invoice access, and shipping-route configuration for existing clients. CVK is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Franz Cornelsen Bildungsgruppe (Cornelsen Gruppe), one of Germany's largest educational publishing groups, and operates bilocon (Bielefelder Logistik Contor GmbH, founded 2016) as a 100% subsidiary providing flexible personnel management for seasonal logistics peaks. Customers include Cornelsen Verlag, Duden, Oxford University Press, National Geographic Learning, Meyers, Bibliographisches Institut, Athesia Kalenderverlag, Calvendo, Kösel, Oldenbourg, Veritas, and a roster of international educational and reference publishers. Performance benchmarks reported by the company include a 96% same-day delivery rate and 99.95% error-free shipment rate.

Name

Cornelsen Verlagskontor

Legal name

Cornelsen Verlagskontor GmbH

Website

https://cvk.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1966

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Cornelsen Verlagskontor (CVK) is a German full-service logistics provider that handles warehousing, fulfillment, and distribution of books, calendars, and non-book merchandise for premium publishers, primarily across the D-A-CH region and globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Publisher Logistics Services

NAICS

Stationery and Office Supplies Merchant Wholesalers (424120)

SIC

Wholesale-Paper & Paper Products (5110)

akta.pro primary industry

Stationery, Writing Instruments & Paper Products Distribution (CRAOALAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) & FMCG (TLAIALAH), Retail Distribution Centers (Store Replenishment DCs) (TLALAEAA)

Keywords

• Book logistics services
• Publisher fulfillment services
• Warehouse distribution services
• Calendar distribution services
• Premium book distribution

Headquarters

HQ city

Bielefeld

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Logistics and Fulfillment Services: Full-service and partial-service logistics offering for book, calendar, and non-book publishers. Full-service package includes complete order management, invoicing, debtor management, warehousing, commissioning, and shipping. Revenue derived from service fees for warehousing, order processing, packaging, and shipping services.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Cornelsen Verlagskontor (CVK) is a full-service premium logistics and distribution provider for book, calendar, and non-book publishers, covering the end-to-end supply chain from warehousing and order management through picking, packing, invoicing, debtor management, and shipping to end customers. Operating from a 60,000 m² facility in Bielefeld with 60,000 pallet storage spaces, it ships more than 40 million exemplars and 1.5 million parcels annually across the D-A-CH region and 110 countries, and serves as the largest calendar distributor for European trade.

Product overview

CVK (Cornelsen Verlagskontor) operates as a full-service premium logistics platform for publishers, offering an integrated suite of services built around its core warehousing and fulfillment infrastructure. The platform is organized around the main CVK Premium-Auslieferung service, which encompasses the full supply chain from order acceptance through invoicing, debitor management, storage, picking, packing, shipping, and returns. This core platform is augmented by modular add-ons including CVK Premium-Plus (next-day delivery), the CVK Online-Bestellsystem customer portal (cvk-online.de), the CVK Datawarehouse for After Sales Reporting, the CVK Parkmodell for shipment bundling, and CVK Rechenzentrum IT-Hosting services. The company processes approximately 40 million book copies annually across 1.5 million shipments from its 60,000 m2 Bielefeld facility, positioning itself as the largest calendar distributor for European retailers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CVK Premium-Plus: Next-Day delivery service offering overnight shipment delivery to customers.
• bilocon (Bielefelder Logistik Contor)

Products and services

• CVK Premium-Auslieferung (Full-Service Premium Distribution) Full-service premium logistics and distribution platform for publishers, covering warehousing, order management, picking, packing, shipping, invoicing, debtor management, and returns handling. Delivers 96% same-day delivery and 99.95% error-free shipment rates for premium book, calendar, and non-book publishers across the D-A-CH region and 110 countries.
• CVK Online-Bestellsystem (cvk-online.de) Customer-facing online ordering portal enabling cross-publisher order entry with ISBN/EAN support, integrated article search, customer-specific invoice and credit information access, and self-service shipping route and order quantity management for publishing clients.
• CVK Premium-Plus (Next-Day Delivery) Premium add-on service offering next-day delivery, allowing publisher customers to have time-sensitive shipments received by their end customers the following business day.
• CVK Datawarehouse (After-Sales Reporting) Customized after-sales reporting and data-analysis service powered by a proprietary data warehouse, enabling publishers to optimize sales distribution, marketing, and customer relationship management.
• CVK Parkmodell (Shipment Bundling)

Quantifiable outcome

• 96% same-day delivery rate
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers19 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Bielefelder Logistik Contor (bilocon)coreOthers · 1 January 2016100% subsidiary of CVK established in 2016 as a personnel management company. Provides flexible workforce solutions, seasonal capacity reserves, and part-time worker management for CVK's logistics operations. Enables CVK to maintain reliable service levels even during intense school book and calendar seasons.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• KNV Zeitfracht Logistik: KNV is a German book/media distributor historically affiliated with the Libri group and serving publishers and the book trade with warehousing and delivery across D-A-CH. Directly comparable to CVK in core offerings, customer base, and geographic focus.
• Libri GmbH: Libri is Hamburg-based and one of Germany's largest book wholesale and distribution groups (parent of KNV/Zeitfracht). Directly comparable to CVK as a full-service book fulfillment and distribution platform serving German and European publishers from large centralized facilities.
• Umbreit GmbH: Umbreit is a long-standing German book logistics and distribution specialist serving publishers and the book trade. Directly comparable to CVK in providing warehousing, order processing, and shipping services for the German publishing market.
• VVA (Vereinigte Verlagsauslieferungen): VVA is a German publisher distribution services provider located in Bad Feilnbach, serving trade and education publishers with warehousing and delivery across D-A-CH. Directly comparable to CVK's full-service publisher logistics model and target customer segment.
• Zeitfracht GmbH: Zeitfracht is a German logistics holding with historical book distribution assets and operations overlapping with KNV. Comparable to CVK as a German book/media fulfillment specialist serving publishers with similar scale and contract logistics offerings.

Broad incumbents

• Geodis: Geodis is a major global contract logistics provider with warehousing and distribution services across Europe. Comparable as a broad incumbent offering similar fulfillment capabilities, though with much broader vertical scope than CVK's publishing specialization.
• DHL Supply Chain: DHL Supply Chain is the global contract logistics leader with publisher/media fulfillment offerings. Comparable to CVK as a broad incumbent providing warehousing, order management, and distribution services, though operating at vastly larger scale across many industries.
• Kuehne+Nagel: Kuehne+Nagel is one of the world's largest 3PL providers with contract logistics and distribution capabilities across Europe. Comparable as a broad incumbent with overlapping fulfillment and warehousing offerings, though serving many industries beyond publishing.
• DSV A/S: DSV is one of Europe's largest transport and logistics groups with contract logistics and warehousing offerings across D-A-CH. Comparable to CVK as a broad incumbent with overlapping distribution services, though DSV's portfolio extends well beyond publisher/print fulfillment.
• Arvato Supply Chain Solutions: Arvato is the supply chain and 3PL arm of Bertelsmann with extensive media and publishing fulfillment capabilities. Comparable as a broad incumbent with overlapping publisher/media logistics capabilities, though operating at much larger scale across multiple verticals.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

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Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cornelsen Verlagskontor