Logistics firms line up warehouse expansion for festival season.

Logistics companies in India are looking at increasing capacities of their warehouses and fulfilment centres by 25-50% in the coming three months fuelled by the rise in online shopping expected during the upcoming festive season.

E-commerce retailers are expected to garner sales of $11.8 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) during this year’s festive season, up 28% year-on-year, according to a report by consultancy firm Redseer. The first week of the festival season itself is expected to garner sales of $5.9 billion.

Logistics startups and legacy players alike are banking on this high order inflow. Transport Corporation of India (TCI) expects its capacity, resource allocation and utilisation to go up by 20-25% during the upcoming festive season.

Godrej Storage Solutions, the intralogistics business of Godrej & Boyce has also prepared itself to meet peak season demand by offering buffer storage wherein the stocks are palletised prior to distribution. It is offering a range of systems like shuttle pallet racking that caters to inbound and outbound buffer storage and can accommodate different SKUs at every level to enable easy retrieval of the pallet of choice.

Shiprocket, the e-commerce logistics and shipping software solutions company has increased the capacity by 50% from 30 to 45 warehouses both for festive season and as part of normal growth expected. “For the festive season, we have significantly ramped up capacity in our fulfilment centres to ensure a smooth and hassle-free experience for our customers,” Saahil Goel, co-founder and CEO, Shiprocket told FE.

THE FINANCIAL EXPRESS