Afsana Zarin, Chief of Staff, ShopUp
Interviewed By Sumaiya Siddique, MBR Team
MBR: RedX is playing a dominant role in the E-commerce logistics industry. The mother company, ShopUp, started on managing retail shops mainly. How did the idea of RedX come into being and what motivated you to explore into logistics business?
RedX: RedX is ShopUp’s countrywide captive logistics network which was opened to small online sellers in March 2020 as a new end-to-end third-party logistics (3PL) service provider. We started with a goal to support the growth journey of the online business community. Within four months from launch, REDX became the largest thirdparty last mile service provider in the country with a coverage area of 490 thanas across Bangladesh. It was the only third-party last mile service provider which was operational throughout the pandemic. It has played the crucial role of spearheading the economic growth
of small online businesses delivering more than 50% of all 3PL e-commerce shipments across the country. We have established our market leadership in the last mile logistics space already and we are now establishing a strong footprint in the enterprise logistics space as well.
MBR: What is the business model of RedX and how does it differentiate from the plethora of existing players in the market?
RedX: Currently, RedX has two major areas of focus: Last mile logistics & Cargo. Unlike any other logistics company in the market, RedX is an end-toend logistics platform which provides service to the SMEs as well as the large enterprises. We understand that the needs of these two segments are very different and I think one of the things that differentiates us from the market is we try to understand our customer’s pain points and try to design our services from there. We are also brining in world class experts in our leadership team who are guiding us in building our operations at scale keeping both global and local context in mind.
MBR: Technology seems to be at the heart of RedX’s core business model. Simultaneously, Covid generated a lot of tracktion in e-commerce growth which ultimately drove the growth of logistics business. How do you see this trend continuing in coming days and how consumer behavior will evolve?
RedX: A quote by Vladimir lenin is very popular among the leadership team at ShopUp which goes as followed- “There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen”. Even though pandemic has hit a lot of businesses hard, it has been a blessing for e-commerce businesses. We have seen tremendous growth in these businesses in the past one year and we have witnessed over 11x growth in the number of total shipments in our platform. If these e-commerce and f-commerce businesses find a right logistics partner who
caters to their customized needs, these businesses will only keep growing and RedX wants to keep bringing technological innovations in its operations so that it can always be one step ahead of the game.
MBR: ShopUp continues to make headlines on attracting large funds from foreign investors. How are you planning to use these funds in impacting the local logistics business industry?
RedX: We are privileged to have the marquee investors who believe in us. We also think post our series B investment, many of these investors will now start looking into other Bangladeshi startups which is a very positive thing for the Bangladeshi startup ecosystem. We are planning to use most of our investment in expanding our footprints and building infra across Bangladesh. We will also invest in having more tech resources and hiring experts who can help us build the largest end-to-end logistics platform in Bangladesh.
COMMERCIAL VEHICLE : ROLLING THE WHEELS OF ECONOMIC GROWTH
Commercial Vehicle Industry: Rolling the Wheels of Economic Growth
With the expansion of the manufacturing sector in our country, the demand for the commercial vehicles is on the rise than ever. Manufacturers of various goods and logistics companies are the end customers of commercial vehicles, as they require transportations to deliver goods to various points all over the country. Due to the countrywide shutdown, the industry suffered from negative growth for the first time in the last few years. However, the pandemic-stricken economy is reviving in tandem with the recovery of the commercial vehicle industry.
GDP of Bangladesh is projected to reach 340 billion USD in 2022. Keeping pace with that, the commercial vehicle industry is expanding by 15% to 20% every year. Fast track projects undertaken by the government to develop the roads and highways of the country are helping to sustain the growth. Technological advancements have touched this sector as well like many other sectors. Resultantly, technologies like GPS and smartphone apps like Truck Lagbe, GIM, Loop Freight etc. have already become widely available to city dwellers and have positively impacted the industry.
Needless to say that the success of trade and commerce of a country largely depends on its well-structured transportation system. Keeping that in mind, the government in collaboration with foreign investors is patronizing local assembly with the goal to manufacture commercial vehicles with locally sourced materials.
Like every other industry, this industry is also going through some major challenges. Congested traffic, unsafe roads, poorly trained drivers, high import duty etc. are some of major challenges that must be mentioned. Government initiative to formulate industry-friendly policies and proper implementation of them is highly required to help this potential industry flourish.
RIFAT ISHTIAQ KHAN
Manager
IDLC Finance Ltd.