Digital shipping company, DTDC Express, anticipates that the e-commerce sector will constitute approximately half of its overall business.
In the ever-evolving landscape of e-commerce, one logistics giant is making waves with its commitment to a faster, sustainable, and cost-effective solution for brands to expand their reach beyond metros to tier 2/3 cities.
DTDC Express, a leading player in the industry, has announced its ambitious plans to set up 125 dark stores in the next three quarters. With 25 stores already established in seven cities, the company is gearing up to revolutionise the way goods are delivered across India. The exact locations of these stores have not been disclosed.
The focus of this rapid commerce, as described by DTDC Express, is on quick deliveries suitable for impulse buys, urgent items, and groceries. Their latest venture, Raftaar, officially launched earlier this month, offers deliveries as fast as 4-6 hours.
Rapid commerce, a term coined by DTDC Express, is expected to grow at a rate approximately 2 to 2.5 times faster than the overall Indian economy's growth rate of 6.5-7%. The express industry, currently around $5-6 billion, is anticipated to grow at an even more rapid pace. In fact, faster commerce in India is growing at a rate of around 45% annually, which is more than double the rate forecasted in China.
DTDC anticipates that its e-commerce segment will account for approximately 50% of its overall business in the next 2-3 years. Currently, e-commerce accounts for 16% of DTDC's business, international e-commerce (including rapid commerce) for 21%, and the remaining 63% comes from traditional domestic parcels and documents business.
The company's vision 2030, launched earlier this year, aims for exponential growth. Approximately 55% of DTDC's capital expenditure goes into technology, including innovation in AI, generative AI, and Machine Learning. This investment is expected to continue, with DTDC planning to invest around 20-25% of its overall investment in the next 2-3 years, not just in rapid commerce but in the overall business, judiciously allocated to different verticals.
However, this ambitious expansion comes with its own set of challenges. The article's subtitle, "Weighing the rewards balance of a risky job", aptly encapsulates the balancing act that DTDC is engaged in. The company is investing heavily in technology and infrastructure to meet the demands of rapid commerce, but the returns are not immediate. The success of this venture will depend on factors such as consumer behaviour, infrastructure development, and regulatory support.
The whitepaper by DTDC and Boston Consulting Group predicts that India's same-day delivery market will grow at a 20-25% CAGR, reaching over $15 billion by 2030. With DTDC Express at the forefront of this revolution, the future of logistics in India looks promising, and the company is certainly no truck with carbon emissions.
Published on August 31, 2025.
