 "Logistics firms")
With the festival season around the corner, third-party logistics firms are gearing up for a sharp surge in shipment volumes, with the number projected to rise by 40–50 per cent during the period, driven by higher consumer spending and increased brand activity.
From opening new warehouses and expanding capacity at existing facilities to hiring contractual staff and entering new transport hubs, companies are stepping up operations to meet the expected spike in demand.
Prozo, which provides warehousing and fulfilment services, expects shipment to rise by 50 per cent compared to last year. “We expect festive shipment volumes this year to be 30-50 per cent higher than the last festive cycle,” Ashvini Jakhar, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Prozo, said.
Celcius Logistics, a cold chain marketplace, is also expecting a similar surge in shipment volumes. Swarup Bose, founder and CEO at Celcius Logistics, said, “We expect a minimum 40-50 per cent growth in shipment volumes this festive season, compared to the previous year, driven by increased brand activity and penetration of smaller brands into emerging markets.”
With the expectation of increased workload during the festive rush, several logistics companies are enhancing capacities, both in terms of human capabilities and infrastructure.
Prozo said that the company ramps up its contractual employees ahead of the festive surge, typically by 20-30 per cent.
Similarly, Tender Truck, a truck aggregator company, said the hiring has accelerated on the back of the festive season. “We have increased our operations and onboarding teams by 40 per cent in the last quarter, with additional support in 24/7 helpline staffing, field assistance, and vendor management,” Vidhant Monga, founder and CEO of the firm, said.
In FY24, the company worked with nearly 500 active fleet owners, and this year, it is targeting over 1,500 active fleet owners for the third quarter (Q3FY26) alone.
As for expanding infrastructure, Tender Truck added that the company is aggressively entering into new transport hubs, including Ludhiana, Jaipur, Haridwar, and Indore, which are strategic mid-points for festive supply chains.
Commenting on its preparations, another logistics firm, Porter, said that the festive season is peak time for medium and small enterprises, and large enterprises across sectors, such as furniture, décor, electronics, fast-moving consumer goods, and gifting. “We typically see a significant uptick in demand during this time, for which we are strengthening our supply across vehicle categories. We expect to see variations in demand regionally, with eastern markets peaking ahead of Pujo, southern markets around Navratri and Dussehra, and northern and western regions typically surging closer to Diwali,” Mohit Rathi, vice-president of growth at Porter, said.
On infrastructure specifically, Prozo said the company is adding a new fulfilment centre almost every month and onboarding nearly one new client per week across warehousing and freight services. “Our shipment volume, warehouse throughput, and dark store network have all grown sharply. Our entire system, from human power and planning to infrastructure and tech, is being continuously expanded to match future demand, not just past baselines,” Jakhar said.
Another logistics firm, Delhivery, which provides integrated logistics services, recently announced the setting up of the Lucknow Gateway Hub, a facility spread across one lakh square feet. On the development, Dingtang Tikhak, senior vice-president of regional hub operations, of Delhivery, said, “Our operations in Lucknow and nearby areas are central to our business. Nearing the festive period, this setup will improve how customers experience our services, making them prompt and accurate.” Celcius Logistics, which is preparing for a significant increase in direct-to-consumer (D2C) orders, said it will be a major growth driver during the festive season. “We are gearing up by scaling our rider network and enhancing capabilities. We are also onboarding additional riders and providing them with specialised training for handling sensitive products in the cold chain category,” the company said.
In terms of numbers, it has added roughly 50 new vehicles for cross-country movement and 65 new smaller vehicles for intra-city movement. Compared to previous year, for last-mile, the team has grown significantly from 14 to 35 people, Bose added.
Even as the festive season is yet to kick off, the consumers have begun placing orders. Tender Truck said that over the past three weeks alone, the company has seen a three-time increase in daily load requests across corridors like NCR–Ludhiana, Ambala–Guwahati, and Jaipur–Nagpur.
Pulling out all stops
• Shipment volumes are projected to rise by nearly 50% this festival season
• Prozo expects shipments to increase by 50%
• Celcius Logistics expects a minimum 40-50% growth in shipment volumes
• Tender Truck boosts hiring by 40%, strengthens 24/7 operations and vendor support
