Page 10 - ITLN March - April 2022 issue

Cover Story
E-commerce
Logistics

“Two months back there was a lot of
discussion about the channel conflicts
coming into the market. We will see
more of it, but there has to be some
middle path because the traditional
channels are getting impacted and it is
at a crossroads with new modern retail
channels. The middle path has to be
figured out in which both the models
can sustain because the consumption in
India is good,” he said.
Karan Shaha, CEO and co-founder,
Vahak, opined that what India is
witnessing currently is the rapid
evolution of fully integrated and
digitally-driven logistics startups in
the country.
“The investor community is
quite supportive of them, and heavy
investments are being made in early-
stage quick-commerce ventures,
end-to-end logistics firms, and logistics
marketplaces in India. Overall, the
future of e-commerce logistics seems
to be on a path of strong growth for the
foreseeable future,” he said.

What’s new in e-commerce Logistics last year to further strengthen
logistics? its existing B2B capabilities.
1. Move towards tier 2,3 cities/towns Meanwhile, Amitabh Singh, CEO,
The e-commerce sector is rapidly customised logistics solutions (CLS), at
growing across India, and one of the Stellar Value Chain Solutions, identified
major trends today is the growing two different types of trends in metros
presence of e-commerce in tier-2, tier-3 and smaller towns. “Small towns have
and locations even beyond that. These emerged as the growth drivers for the
markets have grown at a rate faster e-commerce sector as they are now
than the urban areas, and will steadily driving volume-based demand. This
grow to become a dominant force in the trend has been leveraged by brands
e-commerce market. to aid their market expansion without
Vahak CEO Shaha said, “To cater physical presence which would have
to these consumers, e-commerce been very capital intensive. On the other
operators are establishing regional Many international hand, the large cities have moved a
hubs, and focusing more on brands are interested notch higher in indulging the consumers
establishing logistics supply chains in marketing in India. with 30 mins and 10 mins promised
in the hinterland or working with the But the moment they delivery,” he said.
transporters, logistics providers in get their products, the
these areas.” challenge of distribution 2. Technology-led hyperlocal deliveries
In an attempt to expand its footprint in cities are here to stay
in the country, in February 2022 comes in. Singh noted that these trends in the
e-commerce logistics specialist Prodipto Roy Indian geography have brought hyper-
XpressBees announced a $300 million QuickShift local last-mile delivery economics into
fundraise in a Series F funding round sharp focus and the challenge for supply
led by private equity funds Blackstone chain and logistics players is to develop
Growth, TPG Growth and ChrysCapital. centres in India to enable a total a sustainable model for e-commerce
Last year, Ecom Express had processing capacity of over 3 million distribution and last-mile delivery in the
announced they have expanded its parcels per day. non-metro regions.
total hub and processing area to over Planning for its IPO, Delhivery had “Technology adoption to achieve
2.8 million sq ft across all major acquired the Bengaluru-based Spoton superior visibility and predictability

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