We are unlocking the true power of logistics for India
Dear Shareholders,
We welcome you to the Delhivery family and are delighted to write to
you here as part of Delhivery's first Annual Report after our public listing.
Large economies have always been serviced by large, efficient logistics
companies around the world. While the Indian economy has progressed remarkably in recent
decades, be it in retail, information technology, telecommunications, consumer financial
services or consumer internet, logistics remains unorganised, fragmented and
under-developed. Delhivery aims to address this gap through world-class design, automation
and technology that is uniquely conceived in and relevant to India.
An Indian model for India
At the heart of our operations is our distinctive mesh network model
that is asset light and uniquely designed for scale, reliability and efficiency in markets
like India, inspired from our management team's prior experience in telecommunications
network design. The power of this model is further enhanced by self-designed automation
systems, infrastructure and cutting-edge, proprietary technology to solve uniquely Indian
problems like routing through complex city topographies, address quality and geographical
constraints.
Today, we operate the largest automated integrated parcel and freight
terminals in India and have established automated parcel sortation capacity of close to 4
million packages/day across 21 gateways. Building for a market as large and rapidly
evolving as India will require us to stay continuously ahead of our customers' needs by
investing in future-ready capabilities. We will continue to enhance our existing
automation capabilities while also introducing pioneering technology into our operations,
like AGV/AMR, ASRS systems exoskeletons, machine vision and UAVs.
Creating shareholder value out of customer value
The Indian market has historically been serviced by monoline logistics
players focused on specific capabilities or industry verticals. In 2015 we took what was
then seen as a bold step, of building multiple complementary and reinforcing capabilities
concurrently, when we launched fulfilment and PTL freight services alongside our existing
Express Parcel service.
This required considerable investment in building operational,
automation and technology capabilities, but was fundamentally based on putting customer
needs for resilience and efficiency in their overall supply chains at the heart of our
design. Between FY15 and FY22, as we have scaled these new services, our business has
grown at a CAGR of 64.4%, making us the largest independent, integrated logistics company
in India. We are happy to report that customers have embraced our integrated approach,
with over 58% of our revenues contributed by customers using two or more services in FY22.
As our customers' needs evolve, our aim will be to continuously test
and launch new value-added services and capabilities to meet their needs. This year, for
example, we launched Primaseller and Unified Customer Portal, aimed at omni-channel and
direct-to-consumer e-commerce retailers and Delhivery Direct, for individual consumers and
microenterprises. We also started helping small LTL clients by providing an option to
cover the damage/loss risk arising from transportation of goods.
Enablement over control: technology for inclusion
The top 10 organised logistics players in India have a minuscule share
(~1.5%) of the overall market. Asset owners and operators in India continuously struggle
with issues like poor utilisation, access to basic technology solutions, poor asset
maintenance and lack of cost- effective access to capital. Over 85% of fleet-owners own
and operate less than 20 trucks and over 90% of warehouses are less than 10,000 square
feet in size.
We have chosen to remain asset-light and focused on creating access to
demand as well as improving operational capabilities of asset owners and operators like
delivery agents, fleet-owners and warehouse owners by enabling access to our technology
systems and thereby including them in the growth and evolution of Indian logistics.
Everyday our proprietary applications empower nearly 10,000 partners and over 34,000
agents, who in turn power our network across the country. We are also operationalizing our
proprietary OS1 platform and application marketplace to enable other LSPs, enterprises,
logistics-tech companies and individual developers.
Stronger together
Over 94,000 people make up the Delhivery team and form the backbone of
our organisation. Our approach has always been and will remain to recruit people who
exhibit judgement, teamwork, integrity, courage and customer centricity and grow them
within the organisation - a preference for stem-cells over transplants.
This is reflected in the long tenure of our experienced management
team, broad-based ownership created through ESOP schemes across all levels of the company
and the diversity of our workforce.
Going forward we will continue to invest in strengthening our talent
development through initiatives including the Delhivery Academy, scaling up targeted
training, recruiting programs for women in logistics and expanding our talent pool with
offices in Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities.
In conclusion
At this juncture we look back at our journey to the public markets with
pride and at the road ahead with optimism and confidence.
We firmly believe that Indian logistics is in the midst of a
fundamental transformation, in which we will have a defining role to play. We at Delhivery
remain deeply committed to solving the customers' most challenging problems and are
equipped with the organisational capability, technical and engineering skills, financial
resources and the passion to build an iconic Indian enterprise.
We are deeply grateful to our customers for giving us the opportunity
to service them, the families of the Delhivery team for their support and inspiration. And
finally, to you, our individual and institutional shareholders for the faith you have
reposed in us. Our aim is to continue to be mindful fiduciaries of your capital and, more
importantly, the trust you have placed in us as shareholders.
Deepak Kapoor, Chairman and Non-Executive Independent Director
Sahil Barua, Sandeep Barasia and Kapil Bharati, Executive Directors