The rise of D2C and overall ecommerce growth in the wake of the pandemic have also made last-mile delivery a lucrative business.
According to a report by Statista, the Indian logistics sector was valued at $250 Bn in 2021, contributing 14% of the country’s GDP.
Set up in 2015 by Ankit Kaushik, Rhitiman Majumder and Gaurav Manglaby, the Gurugram-based third-party logistics (3PL) player Pickrr claims to have witnessed strong growth during the pandemic.
India has seen the launch of more than 50,000 digital-first brands which are locking horns with legacy players. The rise of D2C and overall ecommerce growth in the wake of the pandemic have also made last-mile delivery a lucrative business.
According to a report by Statista, the Indian logistics sector was valued at $250 Bn in 2021, contributing 14% of the country’s GDP. As per the rating agency ICRA, the sector reported a strong recovery in the second half of FY21, with a 9% sequential growth in Q4 of the financial year.
Understandably, the first phase of nationwide lockdowns initially halted the supply chain. But the logistics sector soon bounced back as small-to-medium businesses, shop owners and ecommerce brands started using multiple delivery options to reach their customers.
With pro-business government policies in place and recent budget announcements to support the logistics sector, infrastructure, digitalisation and the Make-In-India initiative, the last-mile delivery space has adequate opportunities to grow and flourish.
Among the logistics players betting big on growth is Pickrr. Set up in 2015 by Ankit Kaushik, Rhitiman Majumder and Gaurav Manglaby, the Gurugram-based third-party logistics (3PL) player claims to have witnessed strong growth during the pandemic.
“It has been a very good year for us. We have been growing 3x year by year and started operations in 20 cities with fulfilment centres. And the network we are trying to develop will enable same-day and next-day delivery. In fact, we ensure same-day or next-day delivery for nearly 80% of our consignments,’’ said Ankit Kaushik, cofounder and COO of Pickrr.
Watch Ankit Kaushik, cofounder and COO of Pickrr, talk about the company’s growth, challenges faced by the sector, future initiatives and more.
Although 3PL players are developing new technologies to expedite delivery speed and delight customers, many businesses still struggle to cope with last-mile delivery issues. To solve these pain points across the logistics sector and tap into the market potential, Pickrr focusses on AI-powered, optimised solutions to improve customer satisfaction and grow sales volume.
Pickrr has recently launched Fastrr, a frictionless, end-to-end checkout solution to help D2C brands boost their sales and improve profitability.
The company also uses an in-house recommendation engine for courier recommendations, reduces delivery failures and helps build marketing strategies for its clients based on the analytics and insights offered via a client dashboard.
In 2021, the logistics tech startup raised $12 Mn in a Series B funding round, led by IIFL, Amicus Capital, Ananta Capital and others.
With more than 75K sellers on its platform, Pickrr opened more than 10 fulfilment centres across the country last year. As innovation and growth opportunities come up in the sector, the company plans to expand its network of fulfilment centres all over India and use data and technology for targeting B2B clients and fulfilling their requirements. It is also building a network of regional players to help with the last-mile and next-day deliveries.
