Delhivery flags pressure on outsourced quick-commerce logistics

Delhivery has flagged pressure on the economics of outsourcing quick-commerce logistics, saying the point-to-point nature of deliveries from dark stores offers limited network efficiencies for third-party logistics providers.

The comments came as Delhivery reported a strong start to FY27, with Q1 revenue reaching nearly ₹30 billion, up 28% year-on-year, while EBITDA rose 5% to ₹1.56 billion. The company also reported record volumes in its express business, which handled 322 million packages, up 55% year-on-year.

Sahil Barua, MD and CEO, Delhivery, said during the earnings call on 8th August, 2026 that the company has deliberately stayed away from operating dark stores and handling last-mile deliveries from them because it does not see sufficient differentiation or sustainable network effects in these activities.

The company believes the structure of quick-commerce delivery makes it difficult for a third-party logistics provider to achieve the same network efficiencies available in conventional e-commerce. Deliveries from dark stores are largely point-to-point, leaving limited scope for shipment consolidation and other network benefits.

The issue is particularly important for outsourced logistics providers because their economics depend heavily on the ability to use a common network across multiple shipments and customers. In quick commerce, the emphasis is instead on delivering individual orders from a nearby dark store to the consumer as quickly as possible.

Barua also questioned how the additional cost of very fast delivery will ultimately be absorbed. The industry, he indicated, will have to determine whether consumers will pay more for faster deliveries or whether quick-commerce companies will continue to absorb the additional cost.

Delhivery's position, however, is not a rejection of quick commerce as a logistics opportunity. Instead, the company is being selective about the parts of the supply chain where it believes it can create value.

The company continues to see opportunities in transporting goods into dark stores and fulfilment facilities, while staying away from the dark-store-to-consumer last-mile leg. This allows Delhivery to participate in the broader quick-commerce supply chain without taking on the economics of operating the final delivery network.

Barua also pointed to the experience of some companies that entered the market as dark-store specialists. According to him, some of these operators disappeared after rapidly setting up their initial stores because the economics did not scale.

The comments come as Delhivery's core logistics businesses continue to grow. Its part-truckload (PTL) business handled about 542,000 tonnes of freight in Q1FY27, up 18% year-on-year, while PTL revenue grew more than 20% as yield increased to nearly ₹12. Supply Chain Services generated nearly ₹2 billion in revenue during the quarter.

Delhivery said its express business also remains on a strong growth trajectory. The company has maintained its target of reaching a 16-18% service EBITDA margin in express and expects to be within that range in the second half of FY27, closer to the higher end. In PTL, it expects to exit FY27 at around 15-15.5% service EBITDA margin, compared with 13.4% at the end of FY26.

The strong volume performance came despite a difficult operating environment in the first quarter, which included labour shortages, weather disruptions, elections, higher fuel and input costs and changes to labour regulations.

For quick-commerce companies, the challenge is therefore not simply generating demand for faster delivery, but ensuring that the cost of maintaining the infrastructure and delivery network can be supported as the model expands.

Delhivery's approach could change if the quick-commerce model evolves towards greater aggregation or pooling of orders, which could create more network efficiencies for third-party logistics providers. Until then, the company appears more interested in serving the wider supply chain around quick commerce than taking over the dark-store-to-consumer last mile.