Home / Knowledge Hub / Blog / How The Delhivery Business Model Disrupted The Indian E-Logistics Industry
Delhivery is the rising star of the Indian startup ecosystem and the e-logistics industry. In 2011, this young startup faced challenges like lack of trust, warehousing and substantial competition. However, smart strategies like zero subscription fees and competitive shipping rates along with service offerings of warehousing, transportation and ecommerce propelled Delhivery to become India’s largest B2B, B2C and C2C logistics player. It launched its IPO in 2022 and is now a unicorn creating sustainable logistics solutions.
The start-up wave in India has not just boosted our economy but has also solved a multitude of problems across various spectrums. Today you can order food, medicines, clothes, electronics – everything on an app. But a very essential aspect of online ordering is delivery.
When these things get delivered at your doorstep, you must have noticed one name popping by often – Delhivery. In this blog, we will analyse the Delhivery business model, which has created ripples across the e-logistics industry.
Delhivery Success Story – Changing The World One Shipment at a Time
Sahil Barua and Mohit Tandon wanted to understand how the restaurant delivery system worked and started interacting with delivery executives and restaurant owners. Soon they realised that the e-commerce sector in India had several gaps and thus started the journey of Delhivery!
Initially, the company started off as a platform, which delivered food in under an hour. They slowly expanded their wings to the B2B sector, where they started providing warehousing, transportation and delivery services.
Here is a look at their achievements over the years:
- Completed 1 billion successful orders;
- Delivered across 18,000 picodes;
- Built 2521 direct delivery centers;
- Equipped themselves to deliver 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The Startup that Never Succumbed
Delhivery started in 2011, when the market was recovering from recession. India had still not made the shift to online shopping/ ordering and was apprehensive about digital marketplaces, especially for daily chores.
However, they concentrated on solving few core challenges, like:
- Lack of Trust
Companies were not fully accepting of an e-commerce model in the logistics sector. They preferred hiring physical couriers to ship their products even though tracking of shipments was an arduous task. - Warehousing
To build a logistics business warehousing plays a front role in this sector. Delhivery had taken up the mammoth task of setting up physical warehouses in different cities which required logistics, people and resources. - Competition
There were already established national and international players like Blue Dart, FedEx and BlackBuck that were providing such services and these players had already gauged a fair market share, since they had the first mover advantage
Overcoming Challenges
Despite these challenges, the company started carving a niche for itself by expanding its delivery network and pricing their services economically. Finally, the company started to come out of the hyperlocal module.
They saw a huge potential in the B2B delivery industry. In June 2011 they signed their first e-commerce client, Urban Touch and there was no looking back.
Over the years they secured funding from venture capitalists like SoftBank, Tiger Global, Nexus Venture Partners and The Carlyle Group. In May 2022, after raising USD $310 million. Delhivery brought out its IPO worth $690 million which propelled the company to a valuation of USD $4.6 billion.
Similar Read: How Haldiram’s Business Strategy Took It from Bikaner’s Bhujia Bazaar to International Supermarkets
Delhivery Business Model: A Quick Look
Delhivery is one of India’s largest B2B, B2C and C2C logistics courier companies with a vast supply chain infrastructure. A major reason why the business model became successful was the competitive shipping rates and zero subscription fee.
The company’s services can be divided into 3 verticals:
- Warehousing: Units presents across 40+ cities across the country
- Transportation: Deliveries done 18000+ pincodes and 2500+ cities
- E- Commerce: Integrated with companies like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Opencart to deliver their products
In 2021, the company attained a turnover of Rs. 3700 crores and aims to reach 7000 crores turnover in the next 2 years.
A Tribute to Delhivery
It’s not every day that we come across companies that don’t just revolutionize sectors, but also people’s lives. Today, Delhivery has over 65,000 employees and has nurtured the industry by creating sustainable logistical systems.
Yubi salutes enterprises, who are out to #LeverageIndia and applauds their entrepreneurial journey! It’s only onwards and upwards from here.
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