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Startech: Artificial Intelligence powers logistics ecosystem

Shipsy’s intuitive platform provides complete visibility of first, middle and last-mile operations

Shipsy enables digital transformation across the logistics ecosystem. It’s artificial intelligence (AI)-powered platform and mobility suite seamlessly connects cross- border and local logistics by automating operations and ensuring intelligent third-party logistics (3PL) management.

Shipsy’s intuitive platform provides complete visibility of first, middle and last-mile operations, unlocks operational efficiency, and leverages real-time analytics to make informed decisions.

“The idea behind starting Shipsy was to solve the challenges and inefficiencies of the last- mile logistics. But we later realised that it was just the tip of the iceberg. We saw an urgent need to marry the physical and digital parts of the goods’ movement. Hence, we started to build and expand the capabilities of our platform to drive the digital inclusion of siloed logistics aspects. So, although we created by focusing on the last mile, we gradually directed the solution to include the first and middle mile, intermodal and cross-border supply chain stakeholders, and even customers,” said Soham Chokshi, the chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder, Shipsy, which was founded in 2015 in Gurugram, Haryana, India.

“Our technology helps global businesses automate core logistics operations, drive AI-powered decision making, leverage machine learning (ML) to optimise route planning, gain real-time visibility of freight movement across international borders, first, middle and last-mile, and seamlessly embrace evolving delivery models,” he said.

Shipsy has over 170 customers across industries across manufacturing, retail, express parcel service providers, and on-demand delivery providers (including restaurants/food chains/grocery delivery providers). The world’s largest tyre manufacturer, the world’s leading pizza delivery chain, a Fortune 100 exporter, India’s leading express parcel service provider, and a leading 10-minute grocery delivery company run on Shipsy.

“We’re enabling businesses to reduce their carbon footprint by curbing distance travelled by 5 per cent and lowering trip volumes by 6 per cent. We are also empowering enterprises to reduce mid and last-mile costs by 12 per cent and 23 per cent, enhance customer experience by 64 per cent, boost vehicle utilisation by 32 per cent, increase on-time deliveries by 24 per cent, and auto-allocate 99.7 per cent of orders, and achieve so much more,” said Chokshi.

“Our AI-powered platform empowers global businesses to optimise, automate, track and simplify end-to-end logistics and supply chain operations. We categorise our solutions based on industries, use cases, and our new PLG (product-led growth) offerings,” he added.

Shipsy’s EXIM (export-import) solution empowers businesses and logistics providers to optimise cross-border logistics operations, enhance intermodal transportation visibility, automate customs processes, simplify and automate rate procurement, and much more.

Our PLG-powered shipment tracking Solution

Shipsy’s advanced, no setup instant access container tracking app that allows businesses to track bulk shipments across the globe, be it domestic or cross-border, using a single dashboard. It is a self-service-based logistics solution where customers can simply select a plan, make a payment and start tracking their shipments.

Sustainability dashboards

Sustainability dashboards help businesses monitor logistics emissions and identify areas where emissions need to be reduced.

Covid-19 was tough on most businesses, and almost everyone’s lives got impacted during that time. Amid the chaos, our solutions helped logistics-powered companies to secure their grounds. This is also ultimately reflected in its growth numbers and in 2020 Series A funding was led by Sequoia Capital India’s Surge and Info Edge.

“We also made good progress on the following year’s business. Our incremental ARR (annual recurring revenue) grew significantly, reaching close to 25% by the year-end. We also set up our regional headquarters in Dubai in 2021, serving as an active base to extend faster, better, and localised support to our existing partners and fuel new opportunities in the GCC,” he said.

“Back at Shipsy’s office, we held fort even more substantial, creating a Covid-19 pandemic taskforce internally to ensure fellow Shipsians and their families could be helped in every possible way during this time. We embraced teleworking for employee safety and well-being, while our proactive virtual hiring and engagement drives helped us increase our talent pool by 75 per cent,” Chokshi said.

“We have been up and running all this time, despite the challenges posed by the raging contagion. Our solutions have been helping businesses facilitate contactless deliveries to tide over pandemic-induced challenges. It entails extending cashless transactions through online payment integration and capturing proof of delivery electronically to minimise direct contact through any physical touchpoints during delivery. We also help customers gain real-time visibility over their shipment progress through ETAs (expected time of arrivals) and a live-tracking link and extend additional features such as avoiding ringing doorbells and displaying the temperature of delivery personnel for added precautions,” he said.

“We have embraced WFH (work from home) indefinitely. Although our doors are always open to those who want to work from the office, on-demand hot desks have also been set up across cities for employees to access better work conditions and infrastructure,” he added.

“AI is disrupting the logistics sector because niche technologies are helping businesses build agile, resilient, customer-centric, and self-governing supply chains. AI predicts demand, mitigates risks, and drives data-driven decision-making. AI-driven logistics management platforms empower logistics-powered businesses to optimise logistics processes, reduce costs, accurately predict ETAs, automate carrier/3PL selection, minimise manual intervention, get real-time visibility over logistics operations and stay compliant enable faster, on-time. Sustainable deliveries improve delivery productivity, boost customer experience, and achieve much more,” he said.

Chokshi cited a Gartner report that says by 2024, 50 per cent of supply chain organisations would invest in applications that support AI and advanced analytics capabilities. “If this materialises, we are not far from witnessing a future where bots and driverless vehicles take on the logistics processes and deliveries at scale. We’re seeing autonomous deliveries taking place in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” he added.

The increase in freight prices has impacted the global shipping sector.

“The ongoing supply chain disruptions, container shortages, and recent fuel hikes have further shot up the freight rates. It directly impacts shipping operations, making everything expensive to manufacture and thereby influences the inflation rate. It directly impacts all logistics-powered businesses, be it online shopping or delivery companies, to the extent that the burden of surging unit economics trickles down to the end customer. Since shipping fee also defines customer experience and drives conversion, businesses worldwide are finding ways to absorb such costs,” he said.

“However, intelligent freight procurement allows shippers to access the most competitive rates for their shipping requirements every time and reduce overall cross-border logistics costs by 10 per cent. Advanced logistics management tools can lower the distance travelled by 5 per cent, decrease trip volumes by 6 per cent, shrink last-mile costs by 14 per cent, increase first-attempt success rates, etc., to minimise the impact of such unprecedented scenarios,” he said.

Shipsy, whose Middle East headquarters is Dubai, UAE, also has an office in Indonesia to cater to Southeast Asia. Plans are afoot to set up based in the United States of America (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK)

“As for the future, we envision being the de-facto operating system globally, such that everything delivered — whether to a consumer or to a business — domestically or internationally — is powered by Shipsy. We also look forward to building a more robust and sustainable global logistics ecosystem,” Chokshi added.