Logistics has remained a backbone for many industries and over the years has enhanced its technology-based offerings to suit various sectors and their needs. Today, the larger market is divided based on roads, warehousing, and other transport.

India handles ~4Bn tonnes of goods each year, Trucks and other vehicles handle most of the movement of these goods. Railways, coastal and inland waterways, pipelines, and airways account for the rest.

Here are the key highlights from the latest report released by RedCore – Redseer’s research arm:

1. The Road logistics market is expected to grow with CAGR of 7-8% in the next five years

With rising income levels, higher exports, a rapidly growing e-commerce sector, a growing retail sales market, and a projected GDP growth of seven to eight percent in the next five years, the demand for goods movement is also expected to increase at 8% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR)

2. Intercity represents ~87% of the road logistics spends’, of which ~33% is intermediate and finished goods transport

Intercity logistics is the movement of goods for more than 200 km (one side), with a round trip greater than 24 hours. ~33% of Intercity logistics spend is on intermediate and finished goods transport.

3. On demand market account for ~63% of the total long haul logistics market

On-demand freight transport is movement of goods on an immediate basis with prompt payment. It helps in satisfying unfulfilled and urgent demands. Shipments are tendered one at a time on a load-by-load basis and price is high in comparison to price offered by contract market.

4. Digital players are now disrupting the logistics market with multiple innovative models

Given the massive economic opportunity that lies here, a slew of start-ups are disrupting this sector with innovative business models that solve most of the industry pain-points from the supply side.

According to the report, the time is ripe for the open Open Marketplace to succeed as factors such as heavy investments in road & transport infrastructure, rapid technology adoption among suppliers, India’s digital push, macro drivers for fleet owners, and India’s massive on-demand/spot market will drive its growth in the near future.

Additionally, multiple government policies have come up in recent years that have supported the disruption in the logistics space such as the Logistic Efficient Enhancement Program (LEEP), Digital India, and Make in India, among others.