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Electronic retailing or e-tailing in India is on track to witness a five fold increase from $59 billion in 2022 to a projected $300 billion by 2030, a new report showed on Wednesday.

The Indian festive season is set to unleash a surge in e-tailing activity, propelling third-party logistics (3PL) to the forefront of the industry. 

According to the report by Redseer Strategy Consultants, there is likely to be a 6 to 8-fold growth in 3PL shipments between 2022 and 2030 -- from 2 billion in 2022 to an estimated 13-17 billion in 2030. 

The greater adoption of e-commerce in Tier-2 and beyond cities, increasing ‘mass’ consumers, along with increased 3PL serviceability is propelling shipment volumes. 

As a result, shipment volumes are expected to grow disproportionately relative to gross merchandise value (GMV) growth, said the report.

“3PL has emerged as an indispensable enabler for mass-focused horizontals, large verticals and Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) brands. Collaborating with 3PL for logistics requirements expedites market entry, drives growth, and addresses the challenges of lumpy demand, thereby optimizing logistics investments per shipped unit,” explained Mohit Rana, partner at Redseer.

As the 3PL scales, the cost per shipment is projected to decrease by 23 per cent, dropping from Rs 60 in 2023 to Rs 47 by 2030. 

Basis the average share of the eCommerce 3PL shipments in January-August 2023, Meesho emerged as the largest eCommerce 3PL shipment contributor in the country, with Flipkart, Ajio, and Amazon as the others among the top 4 players, according to the report.