Column India
Infiltrating
India
Anand Baldawa, CEO, thinKitchen knows the Indian market inside out, he tells us how brands can permeate this vast and diverse country – starting with logistics… While India is an attractive market given its size and scale across customer segments, it can appear to be a daunting market to approach from a product distribution viewpoint, especially on the logistics front. Unlike markets in America or Europe, there is no single large logistics or retail partner in India who can make doing business easier. However, what most people may not know that logistics, which is an essential component of distribution can be managed with relative ease in India. A strong logistics network integrates everything that a business needs to transport, store, and deliver goods to its location. It is an efficient integration of first mile, mid mile and last mile
connectivity. Effective logistics is an optimization of all three through lead time reduction and cost management. First mile delivery involves the transportation of products from the merchant or manufacturer’s premises to a central warehouse. Middle mile delivery – also known as second mile delivery – generally involves the transportation of products from the warehouse to retail locations/ fulfilment centres. In contrast, the last mile delivery is the movement of finished products from the fulfilment centre to the consumer. In a product’s journey, it is moved from the warehouse shelf, to the back of a truck, to the customer’s doorstep—and hence the final
step of this process, is known as the “last mile of delivery.” India is replete with third party logistics providers (3PL) that function as a one stop shop and
“A strong logistics network integrates everything that a business needs” are reliable and experienced in offering secure inbound and outbound logistics including freight forwarding, transportation, warehousing and VAS such as material handling, packaging, sorting, labelling and reverse logistics amongst others. They
Did you know? India has 12 major ports which handle a cargo traffic of over 712 million tonnes (in the current fiscal) and numerous air cargo terminals that are gearing up to handle 10MT of cargo by 2030. 24 KITCHENWARE INTERNATIONAL
manage end-to-end solutions for customers, who outsource their multi-nodal logistics needs, with real time data driven tracking and competitive pricing. Then there
are expert logistic providers who offer door-to-door delivery across regions. Some of the leading logistics companies in India are BlueDart, GATI, AllCargo, TCI, DHL. FedEx, Dehlivery, VRL all of which offer a combination of complete logistic solutions. Industries like auto components, BFSI, IT components, pharmaceuticals, e-commerce and retail amongst others are customers of 3PL or contract logistics. When it comes to first mile logistics, contract logistics providers may be involved in providing