Tailwind Shipping Lines, the vessel operating arm of supermarket retailer Lidl, said Wednesday it has integrated with CargoWise, the widely used forwarding software platform owned by WiseTech Global. 

The move links CargoWise to a key customer segment that WiseTech has recently chased since acquiring software provider E2open in May 2025. 

The integration with Tailwind enables forwarders to access within CargoWise the ocean booking, confirmation and management features for shipments moving on Tailwind vessels. That includes access to Tailwind's schedules, dynamic rates and capacity, as well as the ability to digitally modify bookings without leaving CargoWise. 

“The direct integration with CargoWise removes manual steps from the process and ensures data consistency from start to finish,” Nico Peters, vice president of commercial management at Tailwind, said in a statement. “It is a smarter, more digital shipping experience built around speed and accuracy, which exactly mirrors Tailwind's key characteristics.” 

Lidl launched Tailwind in 2022 amid global capacity constraints stemming from pandemic-induced container demand. The subsidiary has remained in business even as demand has normalized and now sells capacity to forwarders. It primarily handles the containerized transport of non-food goods, originally exclusively for Lidl, but now also for other customers. 

Tailwind operates three liner services: the Panda Express Service (PAX) between China and the Mediterranean; the Tiger Express Service (TEX) between Bangladesh, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka; and the European short-sea operator Dolphin Express Service (DEX), which transports goods between Barcelona in Spain and Moerdijk in the Netherlands. Those services are built around schedule reliability by focusing on minimal port calls at smaller ports. 

May extend to rail, inland services 

While Tailwind is a container line, its affiliation with one of Europe's largest retailers is notable, given WiseTech's $2.1 billion acquisition of E2open in 2022. E2open's customer base is largely shippers, and analysts have speculated since the transaction that WiseTech would target shippers more directly in the years ahead, given it already has the vast majority of the world's forwarders as customers for its transportation management, customs compliance and accounting tools. 

“More than 99% of the world's ocean freight managed through CargoWise can be electronically booked directly with shipping lines and [non-vessel-operating common carriers],” Bjorn Schwarz, WiseTech's integration and transformation manager, said in the statement. “Transparent real-time data sharing enables Tailwind to optimize their planning and capacity management and quickly act on market changes.” 

Schwarz said Tailwind customers using CargoWise benefit from a simplified booking experience that removes double data entry, eliminates unnecessary emails, reduces human errors, and enhances visibility and productivity. 

The companies said the plan is to extend the integration to eventually cover Tailwind's rail and inland transport services.