DHL Supply Chain, the global market leader in contract logistics, has expanded its India Fulfilment Network (IFN) to Ahmedabad, Mumbai, and Delhi. This follows the launch and success of the India Fulfilment Network in Bengaluru. The expansion is in line with the company’s focus to support the growth of the Indian eCommerce ecosystem by expanding its infrastructure and services for the sector. To date, DHL Supply Chain has invested over Rs 25 crore in capacity building through the India Fulfilment Network.
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 USD 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% 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 and consumer electronics among others. 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% 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.
Presently, 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, organizations can also tailor the service to specific regions within the country, as well as scale up to match order volumes.