UAE's logistics sector in the fast lane

The UAE's logistics sector is gaining momentum as more and more startups open their shops offering latest solutions and services, tracking real time shipment, beating turn around time for deliveries and so on. While the UAE may see the blend of conventional logistics players and startups, the challenge now remains how will the existing players face competition from startups who are more equipped in terms of latest technology that offers transparency at a click of a button and the traditional logistic company which is run on years of networking in the industry.

The techonlogy adoption has helped companies to bring buyers and sellers on one platform with much smarter processes easing the cumbersome process of locating vehicles, fleets, tracking delivery points. The internet boom in the UAE did boost the e-commerce growth in last couple of years but one of the biggest challenge was delivering the goods as promptly as the click on your mouse. The logistics sector sees firms competing to deliver within hours and on same day within the UAE.

Just to name a few popular brands like Truxapp, Trukker, Yalla Pickup, Quipqup and RSA Logistics agree that though the industry is becoming very competitive the question remains what innovation are you bringing to table to help capture your market share. According to MAGNiTT's 2017 State of Mena Funding report industries such as e-commerce, fintech, food and beverage and logistics and transport are the most preferred sectors where startups disrupt the industry. In last five years 8 per cent of exits in startups was recorded in the logistics sector.

According to the recent analysis of DCCI, the UAE's air freight market will expand by a CAGR of 4.8 per cent over the 2017-2021 period. Over the same time span, container port traffic in the UAE is expected to rise from 22.4 million TEUs in 2017 to 28.4 TEUs by 2021.