The COVID-19 pandemic has hyped up the online shopping scenario, leading to an increase of 35% in terms of shipping volumes. Now, as Diwali approaches,logistics companies are expecting a further uptake.
E-commerce-focused logistics and warehousing firm Ecom Express has seen nearly a 40% increase, YoY, in shipment volume.
While the sales of apparels doubled, the beauty and wellness category that saw a sluggish growth during the lockdown has witnessed a significant rise during the festive sale period.
A surge in consumer electronics like laptop, tablets and mobile phones-a category which saw a spike in the last festive season, came in early this year as these became more of a necessity rather than a luxury induced by remote working, e-learning, and online schooling.
Leading express service provider DHL also experienced around 35% e-commerce shipment volume growth in 2020, and is expecting an all-time high of over 50% more shipment quantities for Diwali.
The drastic change brought in by the pandemic in consumer behaviour have been the steps of success for the e-commerce platforms. They have experienced a rise in sales,exponentially, from Tier II and Tier III regions too.
The demand has forced the service providers into hiring an additional workforce to meet the growing demand in both metro and non-metro cities.
E-com express during through September and October added over 30,000 seasonal employments across their fulfilment centres, hubs, sortation centres and delivery centres. Majority of the them were delivery personnel, hub and sorting centre associates and workforce for the warehousing activities.
Logistics Startup LetsTransport also increased its delivery partners by 20% (i.e) 10,000 delivery trucks/drivers to meet the massive festive demand.
Similarly, e-commerce giants Flipkart and Amazon also increased their delivery fleets and expanded their fulfilment centre and warehouses to meet the festive demand.
