UPS is getting in on a new trend in ecommerce logistics with its acquisition of Belgian firm Kiala, a firm that provides convenient delivery options to busy consumers purchasing goods over the Internet.

Kiala launched in 2001 as a private firm and currently operates in five countries: Belgium, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Spain. It has developed a platform that enables ecommerce retailers to offer their shoppers the option of having goods delivered to a convenient retail location.

Last month, EcommerceBytes wrote about a company with a similar business model called Kinek that has been recruiting brick-and-mortar facilities - including UPS stores - into its network to serve as receiving depots.

UPS said the acquisition of Kiala would broaden its service portfolio for business-to-consumer deliveries. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Read what others had to say about the new package-delivery trend in this December AuctionBytes Blog post, "How Will the Package Pickup Trend Affect Online Merchants?"