DHL Supply Chain expands its India Fulfilment Network to Ahmedabad, Delhi, and Mumbai

The move comes in line with the company's focus to support the growth of the Indian e-commerce ecosystem by expanding its infrastructure and services for the sector and following up on the launch and success of the India Fulfilment Network in Bengaluru. To date, DHL Supply Chain has invested over ₹ 25 crores in capacity building through the IFN.

According to a report from the India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), the eCommerce market in India is expected to be USD 74.8 billion by the end of 2022 and is projected to grow at ~35% to $188 billion by 2025. This shift has been facilitated by the movement of both buyers and sellers onto online channels. Relatedly, the expansion of eCommerce and 3PL sectors is also fuelling demand for new warehousing space, which is expected to increase by 160 per cent over last year.

In line with the above, IFN is designed to be a launchpad curated for easing the B2C fulfilment process. It is a 360-degree supply chain solution for enterprises across sectors, allowing them to manage their fulfilment operations seamlessly in a fully online marketplace scenario. In addition to this, IFN also offers carrier-agnostic transportation network linkages to brands and companies desiring to sell online, providing them with last-mile delivery services to further bolster their independent dot com models.

DHL Supply Chain's strategically located sites, in proximity to major urban centres, will cater to sectors like fashion, apparel, accessories, cosmetics, consumer electronics etc. IFN is an omnichannel offering which will enable pan-India eCommerce order fulfilment with use-cases ranging from a single warehouse setup to dynamically linked multiple micro-fulfilment centres allowing brands to choose a suitable strategy for fulfilling orders from their online shoppers. Companies have experienced a 20 per cent increase in business gained online, due to quicker fulfilment and deliveries. IFN's model enables merchants to directly sell their products across the whole country and be closer to online buyers, leveraging DHL Supply Chain's network without having to make large investments in infrastructure and IT while providing end-to-end visibility of the operations.

Commenting on this expansion, Vikas Anand, Managing Director, DHL Supply Chain, India said, "Building on the success of the India Fulfilment Network in Bangalore, brands and organisations can utilise our footprint across India to empower their omnichannel sales via a state-of-the-art plug and play model, that will perform a vital role in boosting their overall business".

He further added, "Using IFN not only reduces delivery times but also helps avoid long-distance shipments across the country, thus reducing CO2 emissions occurring from transport."

Currently, DHL Supply Chain fulfils over 100,000 orders every day from its eCommerce operations in India. DHL's innovative approach will level the playing field between SMEs and multinational eCommerce conglomerates that can afford to operate in multiple markets and commit to next-day deliveries. With DHL's radio frequency enabled infrastructure along with a robust IT platform linked to the eCommerce marketplaces and delivery partners, organisations can also tailor the service to specific regions within the country, as well as scale up to match order volumes.