Besides enabling small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to leverage the growing e-commerce market, the fully integrated end-to-end fulfillment solution on the 'pay per use model' will also help larger businesses to de-risk through additional ready-to-use hubs, it said.

Even in pre-pandemic times, the opportunity in the domestic e-commerce market was evident and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 27 per cent by 2024, with a large number of sellers in various categories showing a keen interest in shifting to an omni-channel model, the company said.

The expansion of e-commerce and third party logistics sectors is also fuelling demand for warehousing, which is expected to increase at 160 per cent, the company said.

“Ultimately the IFN allows SMEs to take advantage of DHL''s scale in a way that is flexible and tailored to their needs,” said Vikas Anand, managing director, DHL Supply Chain, India, was quoted as saying by a news agency.

The IFN also offers transportation linkages to customers, providing last mile delivery services to further bolster their independent models, the release said, adding, DHL''s strategically located sites, in proximity to the major urban centers, offer SMEs a multi-user network solution with access to its established services that would support them across the entire supply chain.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)