From warehouses to last-mile delivery: How India's logistics companies are handling festive e-commerce rush

What happened

Online festive sales are expected to reach Rs.1.50-1.55 trillion, a 25-29% rise from about Rs.1.2 trillion in 2025, while festive e-commerce order volumes are expected to grow 27.1% to 966 million in 2026 from roughly 760 million in 2025.

Confirmed

Global impact / market context

Higher order volumes can lift revenue for logistics providers such as Delhivery, but they also raise costs for temporary staff, trucks and sorting capacity, which means profit per sale depends on how well companies use existing warehouses and delivery networks during the peak.

Analyst inference

Demand is spreading beyond metro cities into Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns, which means longer delivery routes and more dispersed drop points. This can raise cost per order and rewards operators with dense local networks and flexible capacity.

Analyst inference

What to watch

1. Festive order volumes are projected to rise 27.1% to 966 million in 2026 from roughly 760 million in 2025, which is a large jump in parcels to sort, move and deliver within days. Confirmed
2. Watch whether logistics companies add temporary warehouses, trucks and delivery staff ahead of peak weeks, since spending on this extra capacity affects costs and cash available during the season. Proposed
3. Track delivery times and reports of network strain as demand spreads to smaller towns, because missed promises or overloaded routes could hurt revenue and profit per sale for logistics providers. Analyst inference

Evidence

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