Top Trends in Intra-city logistics - Will new startups uberise intra city logistics in India

Intra-city logistics is gradually gaining significance in the market with reportedly more than 18 lakh vehicles involved in the nationwide ecosystem. It has been reported that transportation currently accounts for 5.5% of the GDP, and intra-city logistics is a significant part of it in terms of value. 

Quick growth is being seen in the emergence of numerous start-ups like Instavans, Moovo, Shipsy, Turant Delivery, TheKarrier, Shippr, SmartShift entering this space for providing logistics services. 

Mahindra & Mahindra' s Smartshift - a new startup in the INTRA-CITY LOGISTICS SPACE 

Will the new startups bring in uberisation in Intra-City Logistics

On demand consumer logistics space are burgeoning with several startups which are coming up with innovative technologies and approaches to revolutionise logistics solutions. In fact, this space has been emerging as one of the VC favourite avenues. Be it picking up any item from your doorstep and delivering it to some other place, or bringing daily essentials and food on demand, delivery with in minutes has become an essential business.

Intra-city logistics have evolved over time and it is gradually progressing to provide all-inclusive shipment services. 

We will look at the top 10 trends in intra-city logistics:

1. Integrated service – At an age where everyone is running on a busy schedule, it is expected of service providers to offer integrated facilities. This expectation is witnessed in the case of logistics providers too. Hence, being able to provide integrated service has become one of the main lookouts for intra-city logistics companies. Customers are more likely to opt for a company that packs, picks and delivers from their doorstep.
2. Real-time services – Use of technology by logistics companies increases reliability, credibility, and transparency of shipments. The introduction of apps and GPS fastens booking for service, provides vehicle tracking and enables real-time update of the shipment. These facilities give customers the confidence that their shipment is in safe hands.
3. Urban and last mile logistics – Traffic density, booming e-commerce and home delivery business become key pointers in an urban environment. At the same time, last mile logistics is also gaining grounds in an urban setting due to growing doorstep service.
4. Meet on-demand requirement – For uninterrupted services, intra-city logistic companies need to have a support fleet to cater to the on-demand requirement of customers.
5. Convenience logistics – Present day customers have gotten habituated to online shopping. Right from groceries to apparel, it is all available online. This shopping trend saves time, cost, and physical effort of shopping. For this purpose, intra-city logistics gear up to provide 24/7 service, and also cater to special logistics like a cold chain and direct delivery network.
6. Robotics and automation – As the name suggests, the introduction of robotics and automation reduces manual handling of logistics processes. It results in higher productivity with improved performance and enhanced sensing abilities.
7. Multi-channel logistics – The next generation logistics should be equipped to cater to the customised shipping needs of multiple channels and businesses. This indicates forming a high-quality logistics service that makes intelligent use of standard and existing networks and resources.
8. Delivery forecasting – If a logistic company can foretell you the delivery date of your shipment, it will certainly raise the bar of credibility and reliability. Hence, the use of a predictive algorithm based on big data can enable logistic providers to boost process efficiency, service quality, and optimise supply-chain network.
9. Staff verification – As a measure of safety and security of shipment, customer satisfaction, and a step to enhance the credibility of the company, it has become a mandatory process to verify details of staff especially vehicle drivers and assistants.
10. Internet – The power of the internet is not unknown anymore. Logistics industry must use it in an effective manner to track the end-to-end shipment by the intelligent merger of information.

Some of the mentioned trends have already gained firm ground in the sector of intra-city logistics and few others are in the fruiting stage. However, with these trends, we can only be hopeful of a well-integrated and organised logistics business.