Amid Surging Demand, Delhivery And Xpressbees Mull Entry Into Quick Commerce: Report

Logistics startups Delhivery and Xpressbees are reportedly branching out beyond serving ecommerce orders to meet the soaring demand in the quick commerce space as players like Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy and Instamart are driving the shift.

Citing multiple sources, ET reported, Gurugram-based Delhivery has initiated to manage Swiggy Instamart’s larger warehouses that supply to small dark stores or fulfilment centres, in city pockets.

The report further said that Xpressbees is also in talks with multiple players to enter the quick commerce segment.

Inc42 has reached out to both Delhivery and Xpressbees founders for comments on the development. The story will be updated based on the responses.

Founded in 2011 by Sahil Barua, Mohit Tandon, Bhavesh Manglani, Suraj Saharan and Kapil Bharati, Delhivery is a transportation, supply chain and logistics company. It competes with the likes of Xpressbees and Blue Dart, alongside Flipkart’s Ekart Logistics and Amazon’s Amazon Shipping. 

Meanwhile, Xpressbees, founded in 2015 after being spun off from ecommerce giant FirstCry, delivers goods to over 20,000 pin codes in the country. The startup entered the coveted unicorn club in January 2022 after raising $300 Mn from Blackstone Growth, TPG Growth, among others. 

It offers supply chain solutions, including B2B, B2C express delivery service, cross-border logistics, and warehousing services, to ecommerce players. It earns a majority of its revenue from logistics services. 

“As quick commerce gets bigger and busier, logistics players are sensing an opportunity while platforms also need logistics infrastructure and expertise,” the report quoted a source as saying.

“Delhivery is working closely with Swiggy Instamart now and the idea is to expand the partnership further. This would help Instamart also handle movement of different kinds of stock keeping units (SKUs) as the top players diversify to widen offerings,” it added.

In May, Delhivery said it is setting up a wholly-owned subsidiary named Delhivery Robotics India to manufacture drones and provide freight air transportation services.

In an exchange filing, the company said its board has approved the proposal to set up the subsidiary with an authorised share capital of INR 5 Cr.

The renewed push into the quick commerce segment comes at a time when other players in the space are expanding their product catalogue amid a surge in demand for instant delivery services.

Last month it was reported that Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd was planning a foray into the quick commerce segment to take on the likes of Blinkit, BigBasket, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto.

Zomato-owned Blinkit launched a new category to deliver sports and fitness essentials from top brands like Adidas, Boldfit and boAt among others.

Blinkit’s competitors – Zepto and Swiggy Instamart – are also strengthening their quick commerce play by delivering packaged food and beverages.

The competition in the space is expected to heat up further with Walmart-owned Flipkart set to launch quick commerce offerings across Delhi, Bengaluru, and Mumbai. Earlier, the ecommerce giant also held talks to acquire a majority stake in Zepto, but the talks fell through. 

Meanwhile, Tata Digital-owned BBnow is also mulling a major investment in the quick commerce space.

According to a report, the Indian quick commerce industry’s gross merchandise value zoomed 77% year-on-year to $2.8 Bn in 2023.