DHL Supply Chain, a company specializing in contract logistics, has announced the expansion of its India Fulfillment Network (IFN) from its first location in Bengaluru to Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Delhi to support the growth of India’s e-commerce ecosystem as the growth of smaller and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by expanding their infrastructure and services.
The company said it has invested over £25m in capacity building through the IFN.
IFN, an omni-channel offering, enables e-commerce order delivery across India with use cases ranging from setting up a single warehouse to multiple micro-fulfillment centers, allowing brands to choose an appropriate strategy for delivery of orders from their online shoppers.
Vikas Anand, Managing Director, DHL Supply Chain, India said: “With our IFN, brands and organizations will be able to leverage our presence across India to boost their omni-channel distribution via a cutting-edge plug-and-play model play a vital role in promoting their overall business.”
With this facility, SMEs would no longer have to worry about storing their products and delivering, which DHL Supply Chain would handle for a fee, and could instead focus on manufacturing, which is their core business.
“Using IFN not only shortens delivery time, but also helps avoid long-distance transportation across the country, thereby reducing carbon emissions from transportation,” he added.
He said businesses have seen a 20 percent increase in online business thanks to faster order fulfillment and deliveries.
“IFN’s model allows merchants to sell their products directly across the country and be closer to online shoppers using our network without having to make large investments in infrastructure and IT, while maintaining an end-to- Provide end-to-end visibility into operations,” he added.
The company stressed that the e-commerce market in India will grow to $74.8 billion by the end of 2022 and is expected to grow 35% to $188 billion by 2025, saying this shift is due to the Shifting buyers and sellers to online channels has been facilitated.
The expansion of the e-commerce and 3PL sectors is creating demand for new warehouse space, which is expected to increase by 160% year-on-year.
DHL Supply Chain said its locations near major urban centers serve industries such as fashion, apparel, accessories, cosmetics and consumer electronics. It is currently delivering more than 1,00,000 orders daily from its e-commerce operations in India.
