Sector dossier · Logistics & fulfilment
Logistics, fulfilment and last mile in Asia
E-commerce growth has built vast parcel networks across Asia, but volume is not the same as network quality. The economics depend on route density, automation utilisation, failed deliveries and who pays for returns. Faster promises can strengthen a retailer's proposition or destroy contribution when they are imposed across low-density markets. This dossier explains how we read fulfilment capacity, last-mile productivity and the changing bargaining power between marketplaces, carriers and merchants.
What we are watching
Delivery promises fragment
Same-day and instant delivery are expanding in dense cities while economy networks consolidate elsewhere.
Returns become a first-class cost
Fashion and cross-border growth are forcing operators to price reverse logistics rather than bury it in acquisition spend.
Automation meets utilisation reality
New sortation and warehouse capacity only lowers unit cost when daily volume fills the installed peak.
How the category is structured
- Marketplace-owned networks use captive parcel volume to build density and control the customer promise.
- Independent carriers balance large-platform contracts against higher-margin SME and enterprise traffic.
- Southeast Asia's islands and fragmented urban geography make national averages especially misleading.
- Quick commerce operates a different network: inventory is pre-positioned and pick productivity matters as much as rider cost.